With Hope on Our Lips
by LovelyLori
Summary: Naruto high school AU - "This year will be my time to shine bright and be the best that I can be. I'll be healthy, wise and as cheerful as ever. I will become a new Hinata and I will be able to find myself before the end of my high school career. That is my promise to myself." NaruHina story. Complete!
1. Spring

Hello all! Okay! This is my first ever Naruto story and I'm quite surprised I wrote one. I had the idea and it would never leave my head. I wanted to write a high school fanfic (how original) as if I were watching a slice of life anime.

I wanted the time frame to match schools in Japan instead of my first-hand knowledge of American schools (I probably should've stuck to that, haha).

This is going to be a NaruHina story, so sorry to disappoint (or glad to make you super happy), but the main focus of the story will be on Hinata and how she wants to make change for herself and the friendships she comes across (because friendship is a beautiful thing).

I'm rambling now. Please Enjoy.

* * *

**SPRING:** I Think I am Beginning to Blossom

* * *

The red marker made a loud squeak on my calendar as I crossed off the day before school started again.

How exciting to think, I'd be a junior this year. This year, I promised myself I'd participate in more school activities, and talk to people other than Neji-niisan or Kiba-kun.

It was rather lonely when the two of them would hang out with other friends separately during lunch or afterschool, so to remedy that I vowed to find new friends to talk to.

Though, that isn't to say I prefer some time to myself as well. I spend most days observing classmates. I like to believe that I'm good at reading people and their feelings. Not just good, but a professional, if I could call myself that. It's probably one of the only skills that I have confidence in. When I was younger, I was picked on quite a bit for my eyes, but Neji-niisan cheered me up.

_"Our eyes are special eyes. They have to power to look into people's hearts and read their emotions. If you squint slightly, it'll become more clear to you."_ He said.

I know it isn't true at all, and he was only trying to make me feel better, but at that time, I truly did believe everything he said. And I still squint my eyes slightly to read people's feelings in class. As if I could really peer into their hearts and see how they felt. Haha, does that make me foolish or childish?

Though, I have been good at reading nervous ticks or when someone is genuinely happy or sad. It's all about body language. For example, Kiba-kun's fingers twitch slightly when he lies and Neji-niisan casually itches a spot on his neck when he is nervous. I've never told either of them that I could read them that way, because they'd end up changing their habits and I'd never be able to read them anymore.

I can't quite read other people as well as I can read Neji-niisan or Kiba-kun but, it's a little easy since they put their feelings out for everyone else to see.

In our freshman year, Yamanaka-san and Haruno-san were always quarreling with one another, over very trivial things – shouting insults such as _"Ino-pig"_ or _"Forehead."_ Though, despite that, they seemed to be on good terms with each other – best friends even.

Yamanaka-san is always in high spirits, and embraces her femininity. She can be quite vain at times, but I think she means well.

Haruno-san and another girl would do some quarreling too, over Uchiha-san. I can't quite remember her name since she wasn't in our homeroom, but she had very vibrant red hair – glasses too. She was quite the trouble-maker; always coming into our classroom in the morning to flirt with Uchiha-san, much to Haruno-san's disliking.

And then there were those arguments between Naruto-kun and Uchiha-san. Well, mostly Naruto-kun's yelling and Uchiha-san's snide remarks here and there. It made Naruto-kun angry to no end, so much that they would almost ended up in fist fights. The two of them got detention for their fights many times.

_Naruto-kun_.

I felt my face heat up at the thought of him. He was always so loud and energetic, unwilling to take anything lying down. Sure, he could be a bit of a troublemaker, but I really do like him. In elementary school, I've always tried my best to talk to him or to be even a friend but, I'm too shy.

I can't even read his feelings from afar either. His feelings are always shouted out of a megaphone and put on display for all the world to see, and I still can't read him well. I think it's because it's hard for me to look at him a lot of the time. I can, however, read Naruto-kun's most obvious feelings; the biggest being his love for Haruno-san. She never takes him seriously though, always knocking him into tomorrow when she's extremely irritated.

I mean, I can see why Naruto-kun harbors feelings towards her. Despite her hot-headedness, she's rather cheerful, very pretty and pretty smart too. Many boys would be lucky to have her.

During the few chances I've spoken to Lee-san – with Neji-niisan of course – he'd go on about her beauty and youthful spirit. I guess she's got youth going for her as well. Lee-san even pointed out to me that I should let my youthful spirit shine out too, because I look quite glum.

Neji-niisan scolded him, but I think Lee-san was right; I haven't been at my happiest, I suppose. Part of it has to do with Naruto-kun, and how terrible I am at confessing my feelings towards him, but also at how disappointed I am at myself because I'm letting a boy make me feel this way.

The other part of my unhappiness is probably due to me not knowing who I am, or what I really want in life. Everyone in my class seems to know what they want to do or who they are but me – I'm lost. And that really saddens me.

Kiba-kun tries to cheer me up about it, telling me that I'm young and have plenty of time to think about this.

_"If you keep stressin' over it, you're not gonna have such a happy time while yer young, are ya?"_ He laughed.

I guess it's true, but telling me not to stress makes me stress even more!

Sighing, I picked myself up from my desk to shut off my lights and turn in for the night. This year will be different. This year will be my time to shine bright and be the best that I can be. I'll be healthy, wise and as cheerful as ever. I will become a new Hinata and I will be able to find myself before the end of my high school career. That is my promise to myself.

Content with that, I snuggled in my soft blankets before sleep took over.

* * *

"_Uwahh_… So bright!" Kiba cried, squinting as he stared at Hinata. She had only a small smile on her face, head tilted to the side, and her eyes were closed. Her skin was absolutely glowing today and looked undeniably soft.

"Ah, Kiba-kun, don't over react. You make it sound like I'm some kind of annoying white light." Kiba only shrugged, placing both of his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his chair.

The two were already in their new homeroom class. There was about 15 more minutes until class was supposed to begin, so Kiba pulled up a chair at Hinata's desk where they chatted for a while.

"Well no," Kiba said finally, "but you look nice. Did something happen?"

Hinata shook her head. She spent an hour in the bath this morning using new skin care products on her body. The words on the box said that it would help the "dullest of skin" to "shine beautifully". Hinata deemed that it would be a great way to start out on improving herself – her appearance!

"No. Since it's spring, and everything blossoms in spring, I thought I should blossom too, right?" The shaggy haired teen raised an eyebrow in question and Hinata's confidence seemed to drain away in an instant as her smile slowly faded away.

"Hmm? For spring huh?"

"Y-yes, for spring…" Hinata countered.

"Eh? Are you sure it's not for a certain boy?" Kiba gave a sly grin, and a light blush crossed Hinata's cheeks. That wasn't very nice of Kiba, to assume she was doing this for Naruto. She was trying to be a better person for herself, not for him. If she lived life fixing herself for Naruto, how could she ever find herself?

Lowering her head Hinata answered, "Yes, I'm certain. I did this for myself…" a bit shakily than she hoped it would come out. Kiba's grin was washed away with a look of concern for his friend.

"Ah, Hinata, I didn't mean to – !"

"Oi Kiba! It's way too early in the year to be making girls cry with your ugly face!" Kiba jerked his head around in annoyance while Hinata suddenly lifted her head up to the familiar voice. There stood Naruto, upright with his infamous "shit-eating grin" as Kiba so kindly put it.

"Ugh, we were having a conversation over here! Don't you have to go pick your ass somewhere!?" Kiba sneered, but Naruto ignored him, crouching down as he placed his arms on Hinata's desk.

"Don't mind him, he may be ugly, but he's not too scary. Call me if you need me to tame the beast for you." Naruto winked. Her blush deepened and she parted her lips to say something – _anything_ – but nothing came out.

"**NA-RU-TO!**" Kiba cried, and Naruto dashed off, making his way through the rows of desks with Kiba hot on his trail. The chase went on for a few minutes or so before Sakura and her childhood friend Ino walked into class.

"I see we haven't grown up yet." Sakura mumbled, a quite annoyed smile gracing her lips.

"Oh! Sakura-chan! You're here!" The blond haired boy cried. Before they knew it, Naruto began talking animatedly about his spring break and how beautiful Sakura looked today before walking with her to some desks over on the other side of the room.

Hinata's blush had faded away at this point, and she looked straight in front of her, only listening to what Naruto had to say about his break. Soon, Kiba had returned to the desk in front of her, giving her a rather bored look.

"Honestly, I don't know what you see in that guy," Kiba murmured, "he's so annoying." Even though he said that, that didn't mean that Kiba hated Naruto. The two were good friends and Hinata would even bet her allowance for three months that he would hang out with Naruto when lunch time rolled around.

More students began to pile in until their instructor had arrived to take attendance and give the first lesson of the day. Hinata also prided herself on her excellent note taking skills. They were always neat, easy to read and has the most important parts of the lesson in them.

No one really asked to borrow any from her except for Kiba from time to time. Everyone usually asked Sakura or Neji … Well, more Sakura than Neji because she was a lot less cold and intimidating. Hinata didn't mind though. She was so afraid of never getting her notes back or having them ruined, so not being asked saved her the trouble of stuttering foolishly before ultimately handing her notes away and worrying about them the moment they left her hand.

(^o^)

It was now lunch time, and Kiba had announced he, Naruto, and some other friends were going to the cafeteria to get lunch. He asked Hinata multiple times if she wanted to join them, but her answer was always no.

"Are you sure? We all wouldn't mind it if you ate with us." Kiba frowned, scratching the back of his head. Hinata nodded. She didn't want to be somewhere just because she was Kiba's friend.

"Kay then, catch you after lunch is over then?" the shaggy haired teen called over his shoulder, making his way to the door. Hinata nodded as the door slid closed, and in that moment she realized something.

Now she was sitting in the classroom all by herself with her lunchbox. "Ahh, maybe I made the wrong call." She sighed. Hadn't her whole plan had been to make friends so she wouldn't have to eat lunch by herself most of the time? How foolish was she, exactly?

Hinata began slowly eating the contents in her lunchbox, giving most of her attention to the window. The weather wasn't warm enough to have lunch, so the courtyard was pretty empty.

Just then, classroom doors harshly slid open, only to reveal a rather annoyed Ino Yamanaka. "I swear! If she'd just get over herself and listen to me once in a while, she'd know I wasn't lying!" The slam of the door caused a light squeak to come out of the dark haired teen, and Ino looked up in surprise.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know anyone was in here… Huh? Why're you in here by yourself?" Ino asked, her eyes scanning the room before landing on the lone Hyuga at the desk by the window. Hinata swallowed hard. She knew why she was in here, but to let Ino know the real reason would be embarrassing.

"I, um… I just wanted to be alone…" She mentally kicked herself. This was not how people made friends! But to her surprise, Ino smiled.

"What a coincidence, me too." Ino approached her desk and pulled up a chair. "You mind if I sit here?" She grinned. Hinata slowly shook her head and Ino plopped down beside her, opening up her lunch box. "Oh! That looks good! I haven't had red bean soup in a while!"

"Ah, yes! I-it's um, one of my favorite foods…" Hinata mumbled.

"Eh? Someone has nice taste. Unlike Monster Forehead who'll eat anything coated in syrup." Ino said, rolling her eyes.

"M-monster forehead?" Hinata gulped.

"Oh, Sakura." Ino said simply. Hinata could only mumble a small "oh" before the classroom was silent again. Some time had passed between them, and Hinata was silently worrying that she was boring the poor girl. Ino, done with her lunch, was ready to dig into her pudding.

"U-um… Did uh, did something happen?" Hinata asked, breaking the silence. "You know, between you two?"

Ino blinked for a moment before giving a hearty sigh. "She was upset Sasuke-kun wasn't in our homeroom class," Now that Hinata thought about it, she hadn't seen him anywhere and Naruto would have at least started an argument with him sometime today. "I asked around and did some digging, and found out that he transferred. She was so angry about it, she refused to believe me. How annoying, can you believe her?" The blonde huffed, folding her arms.

Although none of it was Ino's fault, Hinata could still see why Sakura was so upset. A boy that she really liked left all of a sudden. She probably didn't even get to confess properly like she wanted to. Hinata would have been devastated if it were her and Naruto in that position.

"Ah, Haruno-san must have really loved Uchiha-san, huh?" Hinata asked, mostly just thinking aloud, but Ino decided to answer her.

"Hmm, I guess. I dunno why she just doesn't give it up. He's not really all that great, and it's a pain getting into all those arguments with Karin over him." Ino took another spoonful out of her pudding. "Mmm, I don't understand how she's got so much energy to keep up with all that. I sure don't."

Just then, Hinata blinked. "Oh yeah, didn't you like Uchiha-san as well?" Yes, it had been true. In elementary and middle school, Ino and Sakura would constantly argue over Sasuke and get into little physical fights that included hair pulling and face grabbing.

Ino gave Hinata a blank look for a moment, and all her shyness returned. "Oh, I-I'm sorry if I was prying! I um… I-I didn't mean to – !"

Ino gave a small laugh. "Relax, I'm not mad at you. I was just remembering what dark days those were." Hinata let out a small sigh of relief. "But enough about him. I've been meaning to tell you, you're skin looks really nice!"

"O-oh? Really?" Hinata blushed as Ino nodded vigorously, giving her a bright smile.

"What do you use? I want to try! Can we go to the mall to find some maybe?"

"E-eh? You want to go to the mall with me?" Hinata blinked.

* * *

I've never really had a friend who was a girl before… If we could even call each other friends. That day was the first time we actually held a conversation. Yamanaka-san was super ecstatic about our "date" at the mall, as she put it. I think that this will be good for me. Kiba-kun and Neji-niisan are great friends, but they aren't girls, so they wouldn't understand certain things… Like a girl's desire to change herself for herself!

When we chatted, Yamanaka-san talked about perming her hair or buying new makeup products, and when I asked her why she wanted to do those things, she laughed and said,

_"To make myself even more beautiful of course~! I like looking my absolute best! Hmm? What? Did you think it was to impress a boy?"_

Then she laughed even harder. Yamanaka-san sure is interesting. We agreed to go to the mall three weeks from that day. She had to help her parents run their flower shop that weekend and the weekend after, and I had to go to an important ceremony with my father the weekend after that.

I feared that after the first day of school, Yamanaka-san would have forgotten that I existed due to how quickly she makes up with Haruno-san but the opposite happened. She sat with me to have lunch the next day, and then two days after that. I was very grateful to her for that.

The next week, she would always ask me before homeroom had started if I was available to have lunch with her. No one ever asked me before she did, so I always ended up saying yes to her and reassuring Neji-niisan and Kiba-kun that I didn't hate them. Because of that, Neji-niisan would ask to eat together before we left the estate in the morning, and Kiba-kun would find me afterschool to make me promise I'd have lunch with him the next day.

For the first few weeks of school, I was actually smiling. I managed to make a new friend who I was beginning to be myself around. I was laughing at Kiba-kun's jokes harder than I ever had. I was actually feeling happy.

* * *

"Ah! Hinata-chan, you made it!" Ino called from the entrance of the mall. Hinata had to say, Ino was very fashionable. She wore a very cute spaghetti-strapped black dress which stopped just above her knees. The dress was very narrow towards the top and flared out towards the bottom. She wore a large-ish, plush-looking white sweater over it and white stockings to match.

Ino's hair was also curled, and Hinata noticed she was wearing very light makeup today. _Boy, Ino must dress to impress wherever she went,_ Hinata supposed. "Hello Yamanaka-san, I hope I didn't keep you waiting!" Ino could only snort.

"Oh please, Yamanaka-san's kind of embarrassing. Ino's fine."

"I-Ino?" Hinata asked, slightly unsure of herself. Ino nodded.

Bowing this time, Hinata cried, "I'm sorry, Ino!"

"Eh? You don't have to bow either…" Hinata slowly opened her eyes and murmured a small sorry before really taking a look at Ino's shoes. Standing upright finally, Hinata asked,

"Um, heels?"

Ino nodded. "Mhmm! These are my shopping heels!" She hummed.

Shopping heels? Wow, Ino really was a fashionista. And she was probably good at bargaining too, considering how energetic she was. Hinata could see it now…

_"Oi, old man! That cute pink skirt! How much is it?" The old merchant would be calculating the price at the register._

_"Your total is six-thousand yen, missy!"_

_"Eh! Six-thousand!? Make it cheaper!" She would cry, raising her fists in determination._

_"A-alright… th-three-thousand?"_

_"Cheaper!" Ino would cry. The merchant would be on the verge of tears._

_"Ei-eighteen-hundred…?" Soon, Ino's heel would find its way digging into the back of the old man as he lay on the floor in tears. Ino would wave her newly bought skirt (for eighteen hundred yen) in her hand as if it were a flag._

_"Yatta! I did it! Bargain Hunter Yamanaka does it again!"_

Sparkles lit up in Hinata's eyes as she thought it over again. "Ahh, Bargain Hunter Yamanaka." She muttered. Ino could only give a jaded look.

"I dunno what you're imagining, but it's making me sound like a penny-pincher, so drop it." Just then Hinata came to her senses, giving a very apologetic look.

As they walked into very expensive looking boutique Ino whispered, "But you aren't wrong about me getting good deals. Watch this." With that, Ino picked up some of the most expensive clothing she could find and sauntered up to the register, her eyes shining brighter than Hinata had ever seen them.

"Oh, is this all for today, miss?" the young man at the cash register asked. Ino twirled her freshly curled locks around her index finger, looking unsure for a slight moment.

"Well…" she murmured. The cashier motioned for her to continue. "I'd like one more thing… You." She whispered flirtatiously, with a wink. The cashier seemed like putty in her hands! Shocked, Hinata covered her mouth with both her hands, so her sound of disbelief wouldn't bring the guy working the cash register back to his right state of mind.

She watched everything Ino was doing, from the sway of her hips, to the playing with her hair to the closeness between her and the boy. It was like that video of the spider queen entrapping and eating its prey that Shino showed her two summers ago… except this one was a lot less gruesome to watch.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she realized Ino had been running towards her, with two medium sized shopping bags. "Let's get out of here," Ino chuckled, "I got them for free~!"

"You did _what_!?" Hinata hissed, but Ino shushed her, gently pushing her out of the store before the love struck cashier could think any better. "B-b-but… But how!?" Hinata cried.

Ino gave a haughty laugh before striking a pose. "That's because you have to use your sex appeal! You should try it too, Hinata-chan."

Sex appeal huh…? Hinata was sure she didn't have any. She grimaced at the thought. "I don't have any."

Ino blinked. "Eh, but you're totally cute. You could score some stuff that way."

"I-I don't want to score stuff in any way, I just want to buy – !"

"Oh! It's Hinata and Inu!" That familiar, slightly raspy voice called out to them, and in that instant, Hinata wanted to vanish. Of all places, he just had to be here…? Hinata hid herself behind a very enraged Ino.

"My name is Ino, stop addressing me with that stupid nickname!" She cried, pointing her finger at him. Naruto only chuckled.

"My bad, my bad. But, how come you two are here? I thought you'd be hanging out with Sakura-chan, as usual." Naruto asked, purely out of curiosity.

"Hmph! Forehead isn't my only friend Naruto, sheesh! Hinata-chan and I are shopping, if you must know. And what're you doing here? Weren't you just complaining yesterday that you didn't have money?"

Naruto scowled. "Don't go bringing that up in a public place! And for your information, I'm hanging out with Sai today." Hinata and Ino scanned the mall as far as their eyes could see, but there was no sign of Sai anywhere. Feeling a little more relaxed, Hinata removed herself from her hiding spot behind Ino.

"I don't see him…" Hinata murmured. Surprised at this Naruto turned around to find that Sai was in fact, nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell did he go then?"

"Hmph, you shouldn't have to make up friends to impress us, Naruto." Ino teased.

Naruto fumed. "Like hell I would! He wanted me to come with him to the art supply store but everything he brought up to the register was way too expensive so the owner ended up kicking us out. He was just behind me up until a minute ago but now – "

"Here I am." Sai said simply, just a few inches away from the side Naruto's face. The blond teen let out a cry of surprise before reflexes took over, punching Sai square in the face. Hinata let out a small squeak while Ino sighed and slapped her forehead. Sai's eyes closed for a moment and then they opened. "Ouch," he spoke in a low voice, "Why did you hit me for?"

"Whadaya mean why'd I hit you!?" Naruto cried, shaking his fists. "Why do you always insist on being too close to me!? And where the hell did you go!?"

"Oh." Sai began. "I decided to go back and ask the manager for lower prices."

"And how'd that turn out?

"He said if he saw me again he'd kick me out for good."

"Ah."

The two girls could only look at each other and exchange small smiles. "I-if only Ino was there… I'm sure she could bargain with the owner…" Hinata suggested meekly. Just then stars began to shine in Ino's eyes.

"Hey, don't you two think that Hinata-chan is really cute?" Hinata flushed a light shade of red before taking her hiding spot behind Ino.

"I-Ino!" Today was not the day to do this! Compared to Ino, Hinata was looking quite underdressed, with her lavender oversized hoodie, white jeans and sneakers. She prayed to God that Naruto wouldn't answer that question.

"What? I'm just asking." Ino said innocently.

"Why though?" Naruto asked.

"Because, I want her to follow in my footsteps." Raising her bags a little, Ino grinned. "I just scored these for free all by flirting with the cashier! Pretty grea- Kyaa! Wh-what are you doing!?" the blonde cried as Sai grabbed onto her wrist tightly.

"You have to come with me. You're my only hope of finishing my art projects on time." Ino couldn't even protest before she was dragged off by Naruto's pale friend. And just like that, they were gone.

"I swear, that guy should've signed up the track team or something. Anyway, looks like it's just us now, I guess." Naruto sighed before giving Hinata a warm smile.

She could've sworn she was melting at that point. Unable to speak at the moment, she gave a slight nod. The two walked around aimlessly for a while, Naruto with his arms behind his head looking up at the ceiling and Hinata holding her hands in front of her, staring at her shoes.

"You know," Naruto began, "sometimes I get the feeling you don't really like me all that much." His tone wasn't angry sounding, or sad, but it sounded like he was just thinking aloud. What should she do? Confess? Right then and there? No. She didn't have the strength or courage to do that. Tell him that he was the worst and run off to the art supply store to find Ino? No. That wouldn't be very nice of her.

What to do? What to do?

"Uh, Hinata…?"

"Ah! I-I don't dislike you! N-not at all! Y-you're very nice a-and I… I'm so sorry!" She cried, bowing. Naruto, surprised at her actions looked around him, and at all the judgmental stared and murmurs starting to be thrown his way.

"Eh, did he confess to her?"

"And she rejected him, she's even apologizing too. Poor thing. Why can't he take no for an answer and beat it!?"

"Is he harassing her? I'll call an on duty officer!"

Panicking, Naruto shook Hinata's shoulders lightly. "Ah, Hinata. Y-you're causing a scene. I-I'm not mad, honest! Let's just get outta here before they kill me…"

(^o^)

Taking a seat on one of the benches on the second floor, Naruto sighed in relief. "That was close…" Casting his sight on Hinata, Naruto frowned a bit. "Seriously though. Did I do something to you? You're always avoiding me at school." It always bothered him too. Hinata always sat with Kiba willingly for lunch, but as soon as Naruto joined them, she always had something to do or someplace to be. Whenever they were paired up for sports teams, Hinata would go out of her way to request a new partner or become suddenly ill. Now, Naruto wasn't sure if she was a good actress or just got violently ill around him, and frankly he wasn't too keen on finding out which one it was – they both sounded horrible!

"U-um…" Hinata began, breaking his thoughts completely. "N-no, you didn't. I was just… I didn't want to get in the way of anything."

"Huh?"

"W-well… I'm not really a social butterfly… A-and I'm not um… the greatest at sports or anything… a-and you're really good at those things. S-so I don't want to get in the way of… of anything.

Well, it wasn't completely a lie. She wasn't comfortable being paired up in sports events with anyone but Neji or Kiba because they didn't mind her screw ups or anything. But going into their friend circles was going a bit far. She didn't want people to take pity on her because she hardly had friends.

Still, this was not the only reason why she avoided him. She was simply too shy to face him head on, but he didn't need to know that.

Then, Naruto did the most surprising thing ever. He grabbed a hold of her hand! Shocked, Hinata tried to pull it away, but Naruto kept his grip ever so firm. She looked at him as he gave a warm smile.

"Don't worry, Hinata! You're not getting in the way of anything! We'll be great friends, and we'll help each other out."

"Ah, r-really…?"

"Of course! Don't you believe me, Hinata?"

* * *

How could I say no to that bright smiling face and that warm tone? I couldn't! I wanted to believe we would be good friends, I really did! But I think Naruto-kun's attention span doesn't have enough time for me.

I didn't even have much time to dwell on it at the mall, because Sai-san and Ino had come back with the supplies he needed, and for half price too.

Still though. I knew it wouldn't be able to work out. Even on Monday, when we came back to school, Naruto continued to pay me no mind at all, as usual.

* * *

"You can't sit here."

"What!? Why the hell not!?"

_Oh no._

"Your presence is not needed here."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

_No, no, no, no._

"Are you that stupid that I need to spell it out for you? Hinata and I do not want you hear. Leave!"

Hinata gave a light gasp before reaching her hand out to her cousin. "N-Neji-niisan, th-that's too cruel…"

"Well, he's not understanding any other way."

Today was Monday, the week after Hinata's mall trip with Ino. Neji had asked Hinata if she wanted to have lunch together, to catch up since he had been so busy in student council. Hinata readily agreed, getting a chance to finally speak to her cousin at school for more than a minute.

Today, Naruto just so happened to decide that he actually wanted to spend time with her. He took it upon himself to insert himself in their spot in the classroom and put his arm around Hinata's shoulder, animatedly talking about how much fun they had at mall last weekend. He was a little too close, if you asked Neji.

Annoyed at how rudely Naruto interjected himself and ignoring Neji in the process, the Hyuga harshly lashed out, saying that Naruto had no class or respect. And that brings us up to speed.

"Oh, I understand perfectly – I understand that you're an asshole!" Naruto barked.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata spoke softly.

Feeling a little guilty, Naruto placed his hand on top of her own. "S-sorry, Hinata. But this guy really needs to learn his place! Why's he making decisions for you!?"

"I don't think _I'm_ the one who needs to learn my place. Also, take your hand off of her. It's rude."

"Oh, you don't like when I touch her?" Naruto grinned before jumping into her lap. Neji stood up suddenly, horrified.

"Uzumaki! Stop it this instant!"

Hinata couldn't move. Her body was stiff, and her face was never quite as red in this moment than in any other moment in her life. Scratch that. Naruto made it worse when he began rubbing his cheek against hers. "Hah! I'm touching her, I'm touching her, I – Oi Hinata, are you oka – gyak!"

The chair had leaned back too far, both Naruto and Hinata had fallen on the floor – Naruto pressing all of his weight on her. Hinata – well, she was awake for a few more moments, hearing a "Naruto, get up you dumbass!" and a "Hinata! Are you okay!?" She was pretty sure it sounded like Ino, but who could really tell? Everything was fading so quickly.

The last thing she remembered was Neji's voice. Probably yelling at Naruto for something. It was distant – then everything went black.

(^o^)

When she regained consciousness, Hinata found herself wrapped in white bed sheets, and close to a window there she could see… A garden? But this garden was different than the one at her home, since this one was a rose garden. The garden at Hinata's home was for growing fruits and vegetables. Also, her bed at home wasn't made up of white linen sheets. Where was she?

Hinata sat up, but her head began to throb lightly. "Ouch…" the dark haired teen groaned. She put her hand up to the back of her head to touch it. There had been a small bump there. She soon heard the door to the room slide open. Of course, she had to be in the infirmary. _Why else would Naruto-kun be here…? Right?_

"U-um… We are… in the infirmary, right?" Hinata asked, still a bit dazed. Naruto nodded.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just wanted to eat lunch with you today, that's all." Hinata only waved it off.

"It's okay… we can do it another time, right?"

"Oh! How about I walk you home then?"

Eh? He wanted to walk her home? How nice of him. Hinata nodded and Naruto punched his fist in the air.

"Haha! Yatta! Don't worry! I'll make sure you get home alright! I have to go though. If Neji finds out I was in here, he'd kill me." The doors slid open and closed again, signifying that she was alone once more. Still in a pretty dazed state, she laid her head back down on her pillow and closed her eyes.

Her head still kind of hurt, and she was in no position to stand up and leave the infirmary, so Hinata decided to take a nap until school was finally over. Neji was going to make such a fuss over her. She fell asleep for about an hour or so before her eyes shot open suddenly and she made an unpleasant face.

It had finally dawned on her.

She had told Naruto that he could walk her home today!

Neji was going to kill him!

What was she going to do?

Oh! She had forgotten completely! The Student Council had their meeting afterschool today. That meant that Neji would be so preoccupied with that, that Naruto could walk Hinata home without fear of the boys getting into another argument. This was perfect!

"Hinata,"

A surprised gasp escaped her mouth and she looked over to find Neji making his way to the infirmary bed. "Ah, you surprised me."

"Oh, then I apologize. Are you feeling well?" Neji asked. He sounded as stoic as usual, but his tone was lightly sprinkled with concern.

"Yes, I'm feeling a bit better… My head slightly hurts, but I'm okay. I just need some rest." Neji didn't look the least bit convinced, but Hinata hurriedly added, "N-no really, it's okay! Honest!"

"That damned Uzumaki. I swear, if I catch him coming into contact with you, I'll kill him. Are you sure you don't want me to file a no-contact order against him?" Hinata gasped.

"P-positive!" Sighing, she shifted in bed a little before looking up at the clock. "Ah, your meeting is starting soon."

"Oh, I canceled it." Shocked, Hinata asked "why" only to receive Neji's simple response, "I need to take you home. You're hurt." She was going to protest that she was just fine, but the doors slid open, revealing a very cheerful Naruto.

"Oi, Hinata I've come to take you home – ack! What the hell!?" Currently, Neji had Naruto by the front of his white collar, choking him slowly.

"You have the nerve to show your face here after what you did? And then expect to take Hinata home!?"

Naruto, who had his cheeks puffed out and was turning blue in the face, attempted to speak in a very strained and light voice. "B-but… Hinata said… it was okay…" Neji whipped his head around violently to get a good look at his cousin, who was nervously squeezing her hands at the moment, worrying over Naruto's wavering health.

"You _what_?" Neji scowled. A light blush hit Hinata's cheeks.

"I-I… W-well, h-he was really sorry about what happened! A-and to make up for it, he wanted to walk me home, s-so naturally I agreed. N-Neji-niisan, please!"

A sigh escaped his parted lips. How could he say no to her when she had been so adamant about it? "Fine, Naruto can walk you home, but ground rules are to be set in place right this second."

"Ah, th-that's nice but I wasn't talking about that… I meant… please let go of Naruto-kun… He…"

Neji blinked and turned around to the barely conscious blond in front of him.

"He's at his last moment!" Hinata finished.

Oh yeah, he had been choking Naruto. Finally letting his tight grip on Naruto's collar falter, Neji put a hand on his right shoulder and moved his arm backwards in a circular motion, as if he had been doing some intense workout.

Naruto fell to the ground with a thud, desperately gasping for air. "You better be listening Uzumaki, because I'll only tell you once. Keep your hands to yourself. If I hear that you've even bumped elbows with Hinata, I'll kill you."

"Y-yeah…" Naruto muttered.

"Also, you are not allowed inside of our home for any reason. I don't care if you need to use the bathroom. Do not enter."

"Then, can we stop so I can go into the bushes if I can't hold it anymo – **_Ahhh_**!" Just then, Neji was grinding his foot into Naruto's back.

"Shameless!"

Hinata could only put her hands together, and silently pray that her cousin wouldn't kill the boy she liked before she'd finally get the chance to spend time with him.

(^o^)

"Your cousin is brutal…" Naruto grumbled. The two of them were on their way to Hinata's home now, finally alone. Not only did the scolding from Neji take up time, but Naruto stopped to talk to a lot of people on his way out of the school building, including Sakura.

It was a bit awkward for Hinata, and she kind of felt like the third wheel when he held her hands or hugged her. She actually wanted to go home by herself at that point, having been incredibly embarrassed, and also a little sad.

Shaking it off, Hinata decided to keep the conversation going. "Ah, N-Neji-niisan is just a bit over protective. B-but he means well!"

"Eh? 'A bit', she says." Naruto mumbled. Hinata could only hang her head low.

"I'm sorry…"

Naruto took a look at her before putting his arms behind his head and sighed. "Is this also why you didn't want to become friends with anyone? To protect them from the wrath of Neji?" He chuckled.

_No… Neji-niisan only acts so brutally towards you, Naruto-kun._

"Ah, that's not it. Neji-niisan doesn't keep me from having friends."

Naruto gave a look of disbelief. "Huh, could've fooled me." Even if Neji didn't outright tell Hinata that she couldn't have friends, he thought that he did have a role in scaring people off. Who would want to mess with the Student Council President _and_ the president of the Martial Arts club? "So, if it's not him, then why don't you have a lot? I mean, it must get pretty boring only talking to Kiba." Naruto laughed.

"H-he isn't the only friend I have! Th-there's Ino-chan as well… A-and there's um… There's you too…"

Naruto's blue eyes widened. "Me?"

"Ah… Y-you said we were when… A-at the m-mall, you said we were." A large blush made its way across her face. He'd forgotten, hadn't he? How could she have been so dumb? Of course he would forget… He forgot about her for an entire week. And the only reason they were on this walk was because he felt bad for hurting her.

"I know I did, but when you said yes, I thought you were just lying to get away from me. You were playing with your phone when you did. And all of a sudden, Ino and Sai had come back to us, as if on cue."

She was? She hadn't known she was hurting his feelings too. How terrible of her. "I'm sorry…" She sighed but Naruto waved it off and laughed. The pair continued on their walk, as Naruto talked loudly and Hinata nodded and giggled from time to time.

Once they were close enough to her home, Hinata stopped him, reminding him that Neji didn't even want him on the estate. Naruto nodded and started his lonely walk back home, but not before giving Hinata a quick hug good-bye.

* * *

That day, Naruto-kun asked me to have lunch with him, and I agreed. Though, Neji-niisan heard that he had hugged me from a neighbor who was watching and in a fit of rage, hurled a desk at his head.

The two of us ended up having lunch in the infirmary together, and it was fun. He even asked me to feed him.

_"Oi, Nurse Hinata! Feed me, will ya? I'm not feelin' too hot~!" _Was what he said, with a wink.

And then Neji-niisan, originally outside the infirmary to apologize, screamed at the top of his lungs. How hectic, right?

* * *

"So, what's up with you, Naruto and Neji?" Ino asked nonchalantly, stuffing a spring roll from her lunch box in her mouth. Today, Ino bought Shikamaru to have lunch with them. Hinata was feeling slightly nervous, since he was always bored with everyone and everything. Hinata didn't want him to feel obligated to sit with them, especially if they were boring him.

Though, her question seemed to spike his interest as he turned to look at Hinata. Funny, his facial expression hadn't changed whatsoever.

"Yeah, they're way too noisy in the mornings now. How troublesome." Shikamaru spoke in his normal uninterested tone.

"Ah, th-there isn't anything going on really…" Hinata murmured, shifting her gaze away from Ino and Shikamaru.

"Eh, really? Neji hurling a desk at Naruto when he's around you is hardly unimportant. So, come on. What's up?"

"Oh… Well, Naruto-kun said that he wanted us to be friends while we were at the mall, a-and I agreed. B-but, he's a really… Hm… How do I put it…? O-oh, Naruto-kun is the type of friend that – "

"Invades personal space?" Ino asked.

"Knows no boundaries?" Shikamaru question.

Hinata could only nod. "N-naturally, Neji-niisan doesn't like that and is very protective, s-so…"

"Eh? That's it? How boring!" Ino frowned.

"Wh-what were you expecting?"

Ino closed her eyes for a moment, trying to imagine the scene. Something like…

_"This isn't fair Neji! Why won't you acknowledge my love for Hinata!?"_

_Neji would look over his shoulder and give an ice cold stare. "Because a classless fool such as yourself doesn't deserve the love of the heiress of the Hyuga family."_

_Naruto would clench his fists in rage. "Then let me prove it! Prove to you I'm worthy of her love!"_

_"Hmph, so be it. If you can beat me in hand to hand combat, I'll deem you worthy."_

_The two would then engage in hand to hand combat, which would always end in Neji overpowering Naruto, flinging him to the ground. "Give up. You'll never be worthy."_

_"I can't do that Neji. No matter how many times you knock me down, I'll always fight for Hinata, because I love her!"_

"Or something like that!" Ino giggled. Hinata blushed a bright red, dismissing the idea with the fast waving of her hand and Shikamaru only sighed.

"How dumb. Where did you get that cliché idea from anyway?"

"Oh, it was on television the other night! After that, the hero in the show – !"

"I didn't ask you about the television show. Ahhh, you're such a pain sometimes."

Ino huffed momentarily before regaining her composure. She rested her elbows on the desk and placed her chin atop her hands, smiling. "Hmm, don't act like that, Shi-ka-ma-ru-kun~! I know you'd readily do that for Temari-senpai." She giggled.

Hinata blinked. "Temari-senpai?" Shikamaru sighed, as he normally did.

"Don't listen to her, Hinata. She's obviously not thinking clearly."

"Temari-Senpai is president of the Women's Volleyball team. She's brutal in her games, hoho. Wouldn't wanna mess with her. And yet, Shikamaru insists." Ino laughed.

"I don't insist on doing anything. She's troublesome too."

Hinata played with her fingers for a moment before lifting her gaze to meet Shikamaru. "U-um, Nara-san, do you really like Temari-senpai?"

"Now you've got Hinata asking troublesome questions." Hinata mumbled a small apology. She also hastily mentioned that if he was feeling bored, he could leave at any time.

"Yeah Shikamaru! You can either be interested in what we have to say or get out!"

"I-Ino, that's not what I meant! I – !"

"And who was the one who invited me here in the first place?" Shikamaru argued, slightly annoyed. "It's fine, Hinata. If I didn't want to be here, I'd have left a long time ago." It was good to be reassured but Hinata had hoped he wasn't lying to her.

But his voice was the most sincere she had ever heard it, so he must've been telling the truth. Besides, just one lunch period with him and Hinata could tell already that Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly when he was being truthful or generally interested in something.

She remembered them widening when Temari's name was brought up. How sweet.

(^o^)

The rest of the school day went by a little too slowly for Hinata's liking, but when the final school bell rang, Hinata smiled.

"And that's all for today. Class is dismissed."

While packing her school bag, Hinata found one of Neji's notebooks. Oh right. She had to borrow his notes when she missed classes due to being in the infirmary. But he was nowhere to be found. It was possible that he had gone to the student council meeting already. Hinata thought that stopping there wouldn't be such a bad idea.

While walking the halls, Hinata could hear Naruto's voice, and it sounded very whiney – almost like a child. When she turned the corner, Naruto was latched on to Sakura's arm and Hinata lightly blushed before turning her head away.

"Come on, share with me! Pleaaaaase?" Naruto pleaded.

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. "Did you not hear me!? I said no! You should've brought your own!"

"But it's raining really hard! I'll catch a cold!"

"Whose fault is that?"

Rain? That's right. The weather forecast for this morning said that it would rain all afternoon. She brought her umbrella with her, but when she turned her head to take a look at the window, it looked worse than light showers. Oh dear…

"Excuse me," Hinata called out before sliding open the door to the student council room. They weren't having their meeting yet so that was good.

"Looking for Hyuga-san?" One of the members asked. Hinata nodded. "Ah, I figured. He'll be back soon. You can wait here though."

"Thank you very much," Hinata bowed. She didn't have to wait long for Neji to show up. "Ah, Neji-niisan. Here are your notes from the other day. Thanks for letting me borrow them."

"No problem," Neji nodded, accepting his notebook, "but why are you returning them to me now? You could've given them to me at home."

"Y-yeah but if you have your notes and they get wet outside, it'd be better than me having your notes and getting them wet, right?" Hinata smiled. Neji gave her a bored look before tapping her forehead lightly with his fist.

"That's not a good reason for wanting to return someone's notes."

"S-sorry." Hinata smiled sheepishly.

"Haha, how cute is she?"

"Yeah, she is isn't she?"

Ignoring the comments from some of the members in student council, Neji asked Hinata if she'd be okay walking home by herself to which she assured him that he would. Sometimes Neji treated her like such a child, it was ridiculous.

Finally making her way to her shoe locker, Hinata grabbed her umbrella and quickly changed out of her indoor shoes. Oh, it looks like Naruto got Sakura to share her umbrella after all.

The two were under Sakura's pink umbrella and looked to be having a very lively conversation. Boy, did they look like a couple. Hinata gave a long sigh before heading out herself.

"Hey, Hinata!" She turned around.

"Oh, Nara-san!"

"How come you're still around?" He questioned, and Hinata explained that she was handing over some notes to Neji. "Ah, for when you missed class the other day huh?" She nodded slowly. "That guy is nothing but trouble. Oh, since we're here, you want to walk home together?"

"Ah, s-sure."

The walk was surely quiet. The pitter-patter of rain and the occasional sound of a car driving on the wet roads were the only sounds that were prominent. Though, the silence wasn't awkward or anything, surprisingly. Maybe it was because Shikamaru was so mellow that he didn't need to really hold a conversation.

"So, what had you looking all sad earlier?" Shikamaru asked, breaking the silence.

Or maybe he did need to hold conversations. Who knew?

"Oh, i-it was nothing really."

"Liar."

Did he just call her out on lying to him?

"I-I'm sorry?"

"I'm very perceptive, if you hadn't noticed already. So, was Ino not too far off the mark today? Is it actually that blond idiot?"

Hinata had no idea what to say. And here she thought she was so good at concealing her feelings around everyone. Was she really that obvious? Her mouth was slightly open for a moment in time before she closed it and nodded.

There was really no use hiding it from Shikamaru, was there? Besides, she was sure he wouldn't go and gossip about it with everyone else. He didn't seem like that kind of person.

"What a pain. Don't stress yourself over it though."

"Huh?"

"This year, you seem to be more outgoing and lively. It's a good change of pace, I suppose. Try not to let Naruto screw it up." Shikamaru said, in his usual bored tone.

"I-I could say the same for you and Temari-senpai."

"Hm?"

"Your eyes widen slightly when her name is brought up."

* * *

And then in that instant, they widened even more. Nara-san was actually really surprised that I could read him like that. And I told him about being confident in my abilities to read how others feel. It was the first time I had ever mentioned that to anyone, and it honestly felt good to finally talk about it.

Nara-san didn't have to verbally confirm his feelings for Temari-senpai, I had already known. I wonder if she feels the same way. I know that Nara-san isn't on any sports teams. Even when we have gym, he never participates unless he really has to. Notice how I said _has to_ and not _wants to_? He never wants to. So how did they meet? Does he admire from afar? Or maybe they've spoken from time to time?

I'm only observant in the classroom. When it's time to go home, I leave my observation skills in my locker, with my shoes. I guess I should change that now that I'm starting to talk to people outside of school, huh? For instance, when Ino lies, her nose crinkles a tiny bit. Even when she's flirting, her nose will crinkle slightly, and I know she isn't serious about any of it. I think she's just boy crazed.

But enough about that.

Nara-san's words threw me off completely that day. He told me not to let Naruto-kun mess with my happiness. Easier said than done, Nara-san.

I will admit it to myself. It did hurt when I saw Naruto-kun and Haruno-san sharing an umbrella together. Before Naruto-kun asked to be friends, I always went the extra mile to avoid him, so I never saw much of the interactions between the two of them outside of the classroom. I didn't think that anything would change outside of our classroom, but I was way off.

Now that I'm not avoiding him, I feel like I've set myself for so much more pain. Sometimes I kind of want to go back to my old ways and take off as soon as I see him approaching. It would all be a lot easier that way.

But I was just being weak, and I did not want to come to terms with the truth, I suppose.

This way is much better. I'm not as sad as I used to be, so that's a plus.

Though, Nara-san did mention my liveliness and how I've become more outgoing. That means it's working, right? I'm changing for the better, right? I sure do hope so. Because if Nara-san could see it, then I'm succeeding. But then again, maybe not. He's naturally perceptive so he probably caught on back on in April.

Even so, I can't give up on improving myself! Summer break is just around the corner too! I'll have enough time to work on myself and become the absolute best that I can be.

Though, summer break will also be spent doing homework too, huh? Eh… How troublesome.

Ah!

I sounded like Nara-san!

* * *

And that's all for the season of spring. Each chapter will be set in a different season, so next, I'll write about summer! Hopefully I don't abandon this. I did a lot of thinking in the shower about it (mostly because it wouldn't get out of my head) so I'd like to see it through to the end, if possible.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Summer

Hi everyone! Thank you for the positive feedback, it really means a lot to me. I feel like this chapter was a little harder for me to write and I don't know why. I kept cutting out so many things from it. Anyway, hopefully you enjoy it.

* * *

**SUMMER:** Fighting the Urge to not Wither Away

* * *

"Oh-ho! Your hair looks really nice in a ponytail!" Ino giggled. It was hot today, and Hinata hated how her hair made the back of her neck sweat. So for today, it was up in a ponytail. Her hair was always very short up until her last year in middle school, because it was easier to manage. Hinata hated to admit it, but she thought that if she grew her hair as long as Sakura's was, Naruto might notice her too. Looking back on it, it was a silly thought. Hinata then realized that Naruto liked Sakura for Sakura, and not for her hair. He liked her even when she cut it to shoulder length last year. Admitting defeat, Hinata wanted to cut her own hair back to its old length too, but then decided against it, as it would have looked like she would be copying Sakura's hairstyles.

"Ah, really? I get embarrassed because you can see more of my face." Hinata sighed, placing her hands on her cheeks. Ino smiled.

"But you have a very nice face shape. Not everyone can pull off the perfect ponytail." Hinata laughed lightly. Maybe it was true. She couldn't remember ever seeing Ino with her hair down. She wore side ponytails – pigtails even, and she still looked so nice. "By the way, how do you get your hair that soft? Mine has been a bit brittle lately…" Ino mumbled, running her fingers through part of her hair.

"Ah, Neji-niisan always fixes my hair so that it's like this." Hinata had finally come to liking her long hair and wanted to take good care of it. Neji would often give her tips on how to keep it silky and shiny, just like his own. Sometimes, he'd cut any split ends that she had or help her condition it. Hanabi would often tease Neji, calling him "Neji-nee-chan." Hinata almost slipped up a few times too, since her sister would call him that more at home than in public.

"Eh, Neji? Huh, I shouldn't be surprised, with that mane of his. Hey Neji," Ino called out, "want to help me take care of my hair too?"

"No. Do I look like some beautician to you?" Neji frowned.

"Don't be so mean. After all, your hair is envied by many of the girls in this school." Tenten said slyly. She and Neji seemed to be good friends, and she was even a member of the martial arts club he was president of. She was currently standing in the doorway, her arms were folded and she had the biggest smirk on her face.

"This isn't even your classroom, go back to your own homeroom!" Neji scolded.

Tenten laughed. "Relax, I just wanted to know if we were holding training sessions over summer break for the club." Neji motioned for her to come in and they discussed their plans further. Ino looked over at Hinata with a smile and a glint in her eye.

"Summer break starts tomorrow, Hinata-chan! Got any plans?"

Hinata tapped her chin lightly in thought for a moment. "Hmm, nothing really. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm planning to have people over at my summer home for a few days. It'd be really nice if you could make it."

"A few people?" Hinata knew that when talking to Ino, a few didn't mean just 2 or 3 people.

"Mhmm," Ino nodded, counting off on her fingers as she listed some names, "Shikamaru, Kiba, Sakura, Sai and Naruto so far."

"That's quite a lot of people already…" Hinata mumbled.

"You think so? I have enough room so it should be fine."

"Got enough room for what?" Naruto asked, stepping into the classroom with Sakura. "Are you talking about your other house?"

"How rude, listening in on other people's conversations." Sakura said, her hands on her hips. "That'll get you seriously hurt one of these days."

Ino gave a little chuckle. "Oh-ho~! How scandalous! You two walked to school together!" Hinata could only shift a little in discomfort. She never really noticed how close they were.

"Oh, shut up Ino-pig." Sakura grumbled, making her way over to her seat. For once, Naruto didn't follow Sakura but crouched at Hinata's desk, folding his arms on it. Hinata couldn't say she wasn't surprised. Naruto always trailed behind Sakura, almost like a pet to its master.

"Are you coming too, Hinata?" Naruto's smile was warm, as it usually was when he spoke to her. Still, Hinata needed to weigh the pros and cons of going. For starters, a lot of her friends would be there, so she wouldn't have felt too uncomfortable. She couldn't decide if Naruto going was a good or bad thing. Being able to see him outside of school would be nice. Then again, seeing him flirt with Sakura outside of school wouldn't be so great.

Oh, how foolish of her. She didn't even have permission.

"Um, I'd like to, but I'd have to ask my father for permission first."

"Makes sense," Ino smiled. "Text me your answer then and we'll go from there."

The school bells rang out, signifying that school had officially started. Everyone moved to their assigned seats as their homeroom teacher strolled in, ready to take attendance.

(^o^)

Hiashi glanced up from his newspaper to look at his eldest daughter. She had her hands behind her back and a look of uncertainty was etched onto her face. She had asked him about spending a few days at Ino's summer home. She was successful at answering all of his important questions – Who else would be attending, where was the summer home, how long would she be there – all important things that fathers should know about. Hiashi returned his gaze back to his paper, before saying,

"You make it look like you will be doing things there that I wouldn't approve of."

Hinata gasped. "No, of course not father!"

Hinata could have sworn that her father gave a small chuckle for a fleeting moment, before waving it off as a joke. Her father wasn't very good at telling jokes, because they always sounded serious and would scare her sometimes. A strict Hiashi was much less scary than a playful Hiashi, Hinata had to say.

"You can attend." He said finally.

Hinata's smile was brighter than Hiashi had ever seen before. "Really? Can I really go?"

"As long as Neji agrees to accompany you."

Her smile faltered slightly before she turned around and raced off, in search of her cousin. "Neji-niisan! I have a favor to ask of you! Where are you?"

Hiashi gave a small smile before returning to his paper. There was something about his daughter that had changed recently. He expected her to hang out with that Inuzuka child she was so close with, but it seemed that Hinata was beginning to become just a little more charismatic. This was a good thing. If Hinata were to ever take over any of his businesses when she was older, she would need to drop her shyness and uncertainty. Hiashi was sure that if Hinata could become more confident in her abilities, she would make a fine business woman, and his businesses would thrive long after his time on earth was over.

"You expect me to actually go!?" It sounded like his Nephew wanted no part in this social gathering whatsoever.

"Please? It would mean so much to me if you'd attend!" Hinata cried.

Hiashi wasn't worried at all. Neji did his best to make sure Hinata was safe and unharmed, so he was sure he would attend as well.

"U-um, Naruto-kun is going to be there as well!"

Silence.

"Go and tell Ino that I'll be accompanying you all."

Now, who on earth was this Naruto person, and why did his nephew agree to going so quickly? This was something Hiashi would have to inquire about after their trip.

(^o^)

"_So, Neji has to come too? That's fine. Besides, who wouldn't want to see him in only swim trunks~_?"

"I-Ino!" Hinata scolded lightly. The two were having a conversation on the phone.

"_I'm just kidding_," Ino laughed. "_But I'm happy that you could come. It'll be fun._"

Hinata smiled. Then it was silent. The dark haired teen was about to speak up but Ino beat her to it.

"_You know, I feel like I really missed out._" Her tone was slightly somber, which surprised Hinata a great deal. Ino was always cheerful, and was just happy two seconds ago. So what happened exactly?

"Missed out on what?"

"_You're a really nice person, Hinata-chan. I wished I would have taken the time to have gotten to know you a long time ago. We would have been such great friends a long time ago – the dynamic duo_."

Hinata couldn't help but laugh. "The dynamic duo?" She repeated. Ino feigned annoyance, and it sounded as if she were puffing out her cheeks.

"_Yes! Don't make fun of me! That hurts the most!"_

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Hinata giggled.

* * *

Ino's words really did touch my heart. Did she honestly think we would have been such good friends? In all honesty, I was very intimidated by her. Ino was always self-confident and a really popular girl growing up. She still is even now. I would have been too afraid to say hello when I was younger.

However, I am very happy that Ino thinks we truly are friends, and not because she's taken pity on me or anything. When I first thought about her words, I couldn't believe it. I wasn't sure what made be so interesting that she wished she could have known me sooner. But terrible thoughts like that are what kept me so sad all this time.

I am an interesting person. I may not be able to see it, but other people can. And it's very flattering that Ino of all people thinks so. Well, maybe not _all_ people, but she's up there with Naruto-kun.

I'm super nervous about him being there. I'd really like to spend time with him, but the thought of being around him while going out to the beach or something makes me feel so shy. But I should be fine! The others will be there too, so it won't be so bad! And his attention won't be solely on me either…

Is that actually a good thing, now that I think about it? I don't even know anymore. Some days, I'd really love for him to pay attention to me. On other days, I don't know if I could handle it so I'd rather just stick to myself. I'd be too embarrassed.

I'm so strange, huh? Trying to avoid someone that I like. Though, I'll deal with it when it's actually time to see him. Besides, I doubt Neji-niisan would let him anywhere near me without starting some sort of fight.

Oh yeah! Neji-niisan promised that we would go shopping before the trip. The only swim trunks he has are the ones he got from school, and to take those on a trip with friends would be strange. I also thought about buying pretty summer dresses too, and maybe a pair of heels. Ino would be so proud to see me in them. She'd probably say something like,

_"That's it, Hinata-chan! Embrace your femininity!"_

The only dresses that I have are for parties when father hosts them, or if we go to important ceremonies. It'd be so embarrassing to wear such flashy clothes at a casual get together, so I need to buy new ones. I tried explaining it to father, but he didn't understand.

_"Why does it bother you so much? You'll be the most elegant young lady there."_

Is what he said. He doesn't understand that there is a time and a place for everything. I think that's why he insists on wearing his suits to our sports events and culture festivals. It's kind of embarrassing, to be truthful.

I don't think it can be helped though.

Oh well.

* * *

"This train station is way too crowded for my liking. And we haven't even found Ino yet." Neji sighed.

"But we just got here… No need to get impatient, I'll call her." Hinata smiled. It was around nine in the morning, and Ino had told everyone to meet up at the station by 9:15 so they could all catch the train together. Hinata and Neji walked around while waiting for Ino to pick up her phone until a voice called out to her.

"Oi, Hinata! You made i- !" Naruto cried out, rushing towards the dark haired teen to hug her, but Neji's fist colliding right in the middle of Naruto's face stopped that from happening. "Oh… I see Neji decided to show up too…" He mumbled.

"If I didn't, who knows what slimy things you'd be up to?" Neji said simply, narrowing his eyes.

"Oi, Hinata! You made it!" Kiba grinned, putting his arm around her shoulders. Shaking off the horror of Naruto being hit square in the face, Hinata nodded, giving him a reassuring smile.

"What the hell!? You do absolutely nothing when Kiba does it!" Naruto scowled, pulling his face from Neji's fist and pointing a finger at a snickering Kiba.

"Now, now, we don't want to miss our train." Neji spoke. "Let's move." Hinata and Kiba followed pursuit to meet up with the rest of the group not too far away from where Naruto greeted them.

"That guy really gets on my nerves sometimes…" Grabbing his luggage, Naruto trudged behind them. Man, this was going to be a long week, huh?

(^o^)

Ino's summer home was spacious, and beautifully decorated. It looked like a very westernized home, unlike Hinata's. The group was currently standing in the living room – which was also the kitchen area too, since there was no wall dividing the area where the stove, fridge and countertops were placed. The wooden floor seemed newly polished. It even had a nice lemony sent to it.

"I only have three rooms so the five of you are going to have to decide room arrangements amongst yourselves." Ino said. She motioned for Hinata and Sakura to follow her upstairs to the room they would be sharing.

"Hah, then me and Sakura-chan can share a room together, right? Just the two of us?" Naruto grinned and Sakura wasted no time punching him right on top of the head.

"You wish!"

"Hm, Sakura doesn't miss a beat, does she? Anyway, I'm not sharing a room with that troublesome idiot. I'd lose sleep." Shikamaru yawned, and Neji nodded in agreement.

"Piss off! Like I wanted to share a room with either of you two!"

"If you guys are done, I'd like to go to the beach sometime today! Stop bickering and get changed!" Ino cried, slamming the door to the room all the way on the far right. Were they really going to the beach so soon? It made sense. Ino was practically gushing about a new bathing suit she purchased a few days before the trip. She had told Hinata that it was sexy and fit her in all the right places. She even offered to go back to the mall and buy Hinata a matching swimsuit to which Hinata immediately declined.

Leaving the boys to argue amongst themselves, Hinata made it to the room she would be sharing with Sakura and Ino. Wearing her swimsuit around a bunch of boys would be so embarrassing. Maybe she'd take a light hoodie with her as a cover up, just in case.

(^o^)

_Boing~ Boing~_

Hinata's eyes squinted, and her mouth was just slightly ajar. For once, her posture was slumped, but she couldn't tell if her body was doing this out of shock or disbelief. She hadn't expected Ino to be wearing a one piece bathing suit that was for sure. It seemed that the rest of the group, aside from Sai, felt the same way.

"Oh-hohoho~! Isn't it perfect? It's everything I said it would be, isn't it?" Ino laughed, striking a pose.

_Boing~ Boing~_

They bounced again. Ino certainly knew how to make an impact. She was the first to head to the beach, so no one had really caught a glimpse of her outfit. Then when the rest of the group finally made their way down to the rather secluded beach not far from Ino's home, she practically tore off her cover up to reveal a purple swimsuit, with ribbon criss crossed all down the middle of it. Hinata could have sworn that ribbon was the only thing keeping her swimsuit together, because there was no fabric in the middle of her swimsuit, from the neck past her bellybutton.

Ino was right. It _did _fit her in all the right places.

"Ino, you bimbo! What's the big idea, showing off to everyone!?" Sakura cried, raising her fist. She had gone a much simpler route, wearing a red bikini and bottoms to match.

"Hoho, are you mad, Billboard Brow? You've got ways to go before you can compete with me, missy!" Ino teased before running off in the opposite direction.

"You've got some nerve! **Get back here!**" It wasn't a surprise that Sakura took after her, right into the water.

Rolling his eyes, Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome girls. I'm going to go lay down."

"Wait, Shikamaru!"

"What is it now Naruto?"

There was a glint in Naruto's eye as he tossed a ball in Shikamaru's direction. The prodigy caught it with ease before throwing Naruto a skeptical look. "We're gonna play some volleyball!"

"No thanks." The flat tone in Shikamaru's voice slightly irked Naruto, but Neji intervened.

"What are you saying, Nara? Too scared to challenge me?" At this statement, Shikamaru seemed to gain interest.

"Tch, whatever. I guess I'll have time to play with you kids."

Hinata had never seen Shikamaru so willing to play anything… ever. He looked so into it too – talk about a huge turn around. She couldn't keep her eyes off of Shikamaru's team – Naruto specifically. He just looked so cool spiking the ball and diving for the ball. He even had his shirt off too. Oh, how impure of her, to be ogling him like that. Right as she turned away from the match she was met face to face with Sai.

Her heartbeat quickened, and she felt like she couldn't even move. It was as if she was paralyzed. It also didn't help that Sai was staring right into her soul with those dark eyes of his. How scary.

"Did you see something you liked?"

"H-huh?"

Sai blinked before moving his face away from her, giving her a reassuring smile. "It was a joke. Was it funny?"

"Not really…" Hinata mumbled.

"Oh. Too bad. I'll work harder next time."

Sai was a strange one. He was a bit awkward at times and kind of mean to Naruto and Sakura sometimes, but Hinata always tried look at the good in people. She had convinced herself that Sai was trying his hardest to change his attitude and how he interacted with people – just like she was. They were both the same, in a sense.

She noticed his pencil moving up and down in his sketchbook. Oh yeah, Sai was really artistic. He often spent his time in class drawing in his notebook rather than taking notes. Sai would constantly ask Sakura if he could copy them, which annoyed her greatly.

"U-um, what are you drawing, Sai-san?" Hinata asked. It came out very light and a bit shakier that she would have hoped, but Sai didn't seem to care much.

"The scene before us," Sai paused his sketch. "You should play too. It'll be better to draw everyone in this picture."

"Oh, I'd feel bad leaving you by yourself though. Besides, you won't be in the picture either…"

"Sure I will," Sai began to point to a spot on the page, "Right here."

He was pointing at what looked like was going to be the sky.

"Why?"

"It would be funny, don't you think?" No, it wouldn't have been. But, Hinata didn't have the heart to tell him that his second joke wasn't funny, so she bit her lip. "You should go have fun, I'll be fine here."

Hinata complied reluctantly before shedding her hoodie and timidly making her way to where Ino and Sakura were playing in the ocean.

Sai watched her for a moment before returning to his drawing. "Huge." He muttered to himself.

(^o^)

"Oi Sai, that drawing looks really good! Did you draw it earlier?" Naruto grinned. He, Kiba and Sai were in their room after a long day of hanging out.

"Yes, while you all were playing around."

"Yeah, it's cool… But why'd you exaggerate Hinata's features for?"

Sai looked up at Naruto, a smile plastered onto his face. Kiba also looked over from his video game to see what exactly Naruto was talking about.

"No, that looks about right." He said nonchalantly, returning back to his game.

For once, Naruto was speechless.

* * *

When we got back to the house to have dinner, Sai-san sat next to me and muttered the word "_doujinshi_." I asked if he was going to make one since his art skills are wonderful and he nodded. He told me that the story would have a cute heroine who was kind, honest and had special powers that kept her fictional city safe from harm.

It didn't sound like something he'd be all that interested in – not at all. When I was ready to ask him about it, he said,

"_Fan service is a wonderful thing, isn't it?_"

Then Neji asked Sai-san what exactly was he mumbling about, but said waved it off and said that it was nothing. Sai-san is a strange person, but I believe he's also a good person so it's okay to be a bit weird.

Today was really fun though. I got to play in the water for a little bit with Ino and Haruno-san and I managed to make a nice sandcastle with Kiba-kun and I even sunbathed with Shikamaru-kun.

Yes, we've gotten to the point where we both are on first name basis. He said I'm way too formal, and I should just relax. He's right though, but that's because I have to be. If I start slipping up on formalities, I might do it while Father's business friends are around, and that would be quite embarrassing.

I sighed.

Ino and Haruno-san went to sleep a little while ago. They used up so much energy today, so the both of them went to sleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. But I couldn't sleep. That was also frustrating me a bit. Maybe I could go for a walk or something. I'd ask Neji-niisan to walk with me so that I'm not alone with my thoughts, but he's probably sleeping and I don't want to disturb him.

Shikamaru-kun and I had a nice walk together during the first term of the school year, but he's definitely sleeping, no doubt about it. And I don't want to be "_troublesome_" either.

Picking myself up from bed, I silently made my way out of the bedroom and downstairs. I didn't want to ask Kiba-kun either. I knew he was awake because I could hear his laughter every now and again but he, Naruto and Sai were sharing a room. I didn't want to knock on the door and risk Naruto opening it. I'd make a fool out of myself for sure.

Before I knew it, I was already outside. Where was I going? Back to the beach maybe? Yes, that sounded like a nice option. But, I forgot my sweater back in the room and I was only in my pajamas. That meant that I wouldn't be able to go in the water without getting them all wet. I stopped in my tracks to look behind me, contemplating if I should go back in or not, but I decided against it and kept on walking.

* * *

"Is that Hinata?" Naruto mumbled to himself. He had just come out of the bathroom when he saw her heading towards the door leading outside. It was kind of late. Why was she still up? And heading out in her pajamas no less?

Then a brilliant idea hit him. He'd scare her! Not too much, but he wanted to catch her off guard. Besides, she shouldn't have been out by herself this late anyway. Naruto did his best not to make any noises but he did flinch and ducked for cover when Hinata turned around.

Did she hear him? No way. He hadn't made any sounds since he was on her trail. She turned back around and continued her walk while Naruto gave it a few moments before going after her again. They were a good distance away from Ino's summer home now, and Naruto thought this was the perfect time to startle her.

He quickened his pace, taking great strides before he finally reached her. Placing his hands on her almost bare shoulders and gave a low cackle. "**A lady like you shouldn't be out alone…**" Naruto whispered menacingly.

A shiver went up her spine as she let out a high pitched scream of terror. She should have woken up Neji, or faced her stupid fears and asked Kiba to go with her. Instead, she was alone and no one would be able to help her. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she tore herself from this person's surprisingly loose grip on her.

Naruto gave a hearty laugh. "Man, I got you good Hina – Hinata?" Oh no, she was crying. Panicking, Naruto flailed his arms about. "I'm sorry Hinata! I just wanted to surprise you! I didn't mean to make you cry!"

On one hand, she was relieved to know that it was wasn't some creep ready to attack her. On the other hand, she was so sad that Naruto wanted to scare her and embarrassed that she was crying about it. Her cheeks grew warm and she dried her tears with her hands. Hinata shook her head, in an attempt to let him know that she was fine.

Then Naruto wrapped his arms around her, bringing her in to a warm embrace. He even gave her a light squeeze too. She had to fight off the urge to hug him back. "I'm really sorry Hinata. Are you okay?"

Was she okay? She didn't even know! He was hugging her all of a sudden, and she was sure the pink hue on her cheeks turned three shades darker. She finally gave a feeble "yes" and Naruto let go.

"What're you doing out here anyway? It's kinda dangerous being by yourself out here."

"Oh… I couldn't go to sleep… so I decided to take a walk…" Hinata's gaze was on the floor, and that kind of bothered Naruto. He gently took hold of the side of her face and tilted it to where they both could see each other.

"Oi, look at me when you're talking to me." His tone wasn't harsh at all, but Hinata still felt her heart beat wildly and her face grew hot. Still, she complied and looked right at him. Naruto was smiling, and it made her heart warm up instantly.

Naruto took his hand off of her face and placed his arm around her shoulder. "I'll walk with you then." It was surprisingly quiet for a while. Usually Naruto would talk about whatever he felt like but he wasn't saying a word.

It was a little off-putting, actually.

"W-we didn't get a lot of summer homework this year. That's really nice, isn't it?" Ugh! Summer homework? She finally got her chance alone with Naruto and summer homework was the only thing she could come up with!? What was wrong with her? At this rate, he'd be begging to go back.

"Eh, I forgot about that." Naruto grumbled.

Hinata gasped. "A-already!?"

"Cause it's always so annoying to deal with and I never understand it." He whined. Hinata gave a small laugh.

"I could help you with it, if you'd like."

"Really? Haha, that'd be awesome actually. Thanks Hinata!" Naruto grinned. "I'm glad you're helping me out. You have everything in order already."

"No I don't." That sentence came out very firm, which surprised Naruto. It even surprised Hinata. "I-I mean, there's more I can improve on, and I can work a little harder and –" She added hurriedly, but Naruto cut her off.

"What's wrong?" He sounded so concerned about her. What should she do? Lie? But then what would she say? He wouldn't take "nothing" for an answer, and that was the only lie floating around in her head. She'd have to be truthful with him, and reveal her feelings to him. Not _those_ feelings, of course.

That didn't sit too well with her.

She sighed. "I… Don't know where I'm heading in life." It was silent for a moment before she continued. "I don't have any plans, and I don't have any special talents or anything of the sort. I'm kind of useless." Her tone sounded bitter and she was looking off to the side somewhere. They had stopped walking now, and Naruto's harm had been off of her shoulders for a while now.

"You're really amazing."

"Wh-what?" Hinata looked up in confusion.

"Well, you do super well on exams and stuff, and from what I know, you're a pretty good cook and you're good at arts and crafts too."

Hinata blinked. "H-how do you know all of this stuff?" She was more surprised than flattered but that wasn't to say she wasn't flattered. Naruto was paying her a compliment, after all. She just couldn't understand how he knew all this stuff about her. She never shared any of the food she made from her lunchbox with him. Hinata also did all her crafts and things of that sort at home.

"Sometimes when you bring Kiba some of your home cooked meals, he shares with me and it's always delicious. He also sent me the picture of a sweater you knitted for Akamaru the other day. It was really cute." Hinata blushed. Does Kiba purposely do things like this for Naruto to think that she was great? Or was he just bragging about how nice of a friend he has? Hinata couldn't tell at all.

"You're really creative Hinata. I'm envious." She didn't say anything. What could she have said? He rendered her speechless! Naruto took hold of her hand, running along the path to the beach. She almost didn't have time to kick off her flip-flops as they ran right into the ocean.

It was cold – very cold. But she liked it. She would kick water up in the air from time to time until Naruto grabbed her from behind, spinning her around and around. She let out a small squeak of surprise, but then she laughed as did he. Their laughter seemed to meld together the louder it got. Naruto had finally stopped spinning her, and they stood in the water face to face and hand in hand.

It was the brightest that he had ever seen her smile. Her cheeks were a soft rose color and her eyes seemed to shine. Naruto wanted to capture that moment, but he didn't have a camera. Oh well. He'd just have to remember this face. "Hinata," Naruto spoke up, "you can always talk to me about things that bother you. Don't hesitate."

Hinata nodded. It was the first time she was able to look him in the eye and not feel nervous or embarrassed. Naruto really cared about their friendship and it made her incredibly happy. And here she thought that Naruto would never even give her the time of day. She of all people should have known that when Naruto set out to do something, he was going to do it, no matter how hard it was or how long it took.

She truly did like that about him.

"You've got goosebumps. Are you cold?"

Hinata glanced down at her arm. He was right. She guessed that it was a little chilly out and she didn't even have her sweater. How foolish of her. She gave Naruto a small nod and he linked arms her.

"Let's go back then. You'll be warmer there. Sides, it's pretty late now. If anyone finds out that you and me are both out of our rooms, Neji'll kill me." Hinata gave a small laugh. Naruto shot her a smile of his own. Naruto never actually got to see Hinata smile much. At school, she always sat in a little corner by herself looking real gloomy – sometimes stoic even. He always just assumed that it was hereditary. But now she looked almost like a different person. Hopefully, she'd stay that way. "You know, you should do that more often."

Hinata was confused. "Do what more often?"

"Smile. You look really nice when you do."

* * *

I wanted to scream right then and there! He said I looked nice! He actually said I looked nice! Oh, I can't believe it. I even had to discreetly pinch myself so I could tell if I was dreaming or not. That night was so amazing, and I get giddy just thinking about it over and over again. When we got back to the house, no one noticed we were gone, and that was a good thing. We said our goodnights and parted ways.

I wasn't even sad the next morning either, when Naruto-kun flirted with Haruno-san during breakfast. I calmly sipped the tea from a really cute mug I found in one of the cabinets in the kitchen. I think it's because I didn't set myself up to think that Naruto-kun did any of that stuff from a romantic standpoint.

It was a step forward in our friendship, and just because he flirts with Haruno-san doesn't mean that we aren't friends anymore. Reminding myself this was actually quite liberating. I will say that I didn't watch them flirt, because I would have been embarrassed. Of course I don't feel happiness from it – not at all, but I'm not excusing myself and sulking about it in a corner later.

I also think Shikamaru-kun has been more protective of me. There's no doubt in my mind that he picked up on how I felt on the situation at hand. I saw his eyes lazily look at Naruto-kun and Haruno-san and then quickly dart towards me, his eyes were slightly wider too.

Then after breakfast, Shikamaru-kun and I sat on the couch together. I was watching television and he was slowly dozing off. Naruto-kun was making his way towards me to wish me good morning but Shikamaru-kun woke up suddenly, and began talking to me about whatever popped into his head.

Naruto-kun was annoyed of course – telling him that he was just doing this on purpose. What was surprising was that Shikamaru-kun didn't even deny it.

And then – oh my goodness! And _then_ Shikamaru-kun says,

"_We need to talk about something important – go bother your girlfriend or something._"

At that point, I was feeling awkward. He sounded so serious. In all actuality, Shikamaru-kun and I did have a serious talk outside about Temari-senpai – but I'll save that story for another day.

I'm sure he did it to chase off Naruto-kun, and was successful in doing so, because when he left, Shikamaru-kun looked at me with those eyes of his.

"_Troublesome. He just jumps from one onto the next. Don't let it get to you._"

Is what he said. I assured him that I was okay, and that I wasn't sad or anything and he nodded before asking me to chat on the balcony with him.

Naruto-kun wasn't angry with me though, which was reassuring. We had a few conversations throughout the day. He didn't seem very upset at Shikamaru-kun either. It's nice that he's able to not hold grudges.

Another wonderful quality.

* * *

"The weary samurai, still lost on the road, happened upon a shrine he could take refuge in for the night," Sai sat in front of the group, holding up a flashlight underneath his face and making the creepiest of faces. He was in the middle of an ominous scary tale which seemed to be scaring six out of seven of them.

Neji listened with his arms crossed and eyes closed, as stoic as ever while Hinata sat next to him. She was clutching the hem of her dress, cringing as Sai kept speaking. Next to her was Ino who was chewing her bottom lip in suspense. Shikamaru sat in between her and Sakura. His eyes were actually wide open, enthralled by the story. Sakura had the tightest grip she could possibly give on Naruto's arm, who was hardly paying attention to the story. His eyes were on her the entire time, and a light blush crept onto his cheeks. Kiba's hands were on his each of his own legs, clenching them as Sai went on with his story.

"Just then," Sai continued, "he was confronted by a naked pervert. This person was said to have been a serial rapist and the Samurai wanted to stop him from claiming anymore victims. Just as the Samurai was ready to draw his weapon, the offender bent over to show him…"

The group was on edge, ready to hear what came next.

"the eyeball in his asshole."

Well that was anti-climactic.

"It was funny, wasn't it?" Sai smiled.

Silence.

Then there was giggling. It grew and grew until it became full on laughter. Hinata was laughing!

"Ah, someone found it funny." Sai seemed quite happy about it.

Ino sighed. "You really had us scared there too…"

"Us?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Yes us! Don't think I didn't see you shifting uncomfortably!"

"Hehe~ you were really scared back there, weren't you, Sakura-chan?" Naruto teased but was quickly punched in the arm.

"Shut up you!" Then, Sakura pointed a finger at Sai. "And you! What's the big idea telling stupid stories that aren't scary!? Huh!? Answer me!"

"Hinata, it really wasn't that funny…" Neji mumbled. But Hinata couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"Asshole eyeball!" Kiba called out, causing the indigo-haired teen's laugh to become louder. "Boy Hinata, I guess you could say he had a pretty shitty outlook on life." Hinata was red in the face, and could hardly breathe.

**_Snort~!_**

"Pfft, Hinata did you just snort?" Ino giggled before falling into her own fit of laughter, along with Kiba. Even Neji gave a good chuckle.

"S-stop it! Hahaha, y-you… Hahaha! You're killing me!" Hinata cried in between breaths. Tears were streaming down her face and she was lying in Ino's lap, as Ino was slouched over her, also laughing.

Sai, now that Sakura had gotten off of his case and was paying attention to Hinata and Ino, had taken out his camera. "Now, everybody smile."

No one was even paying attention to the fact that Sai had taken a picture of them. Sai was unbothered by this. Pictures taken off-guard were always the best, in his opinion. Everyone was being true to themselves, and that's what was so great about it. He even caught Shikamaru giving a little grin as well.

This perfectly captured the essence of summer nights. Good friends and laughter.

(^o^)

Later on that night, Shikamaru and Ino returned from a nearby convenience store with fireworks and cakes. Ino mentioned that fireworks were very romantic during summer nights, and anything could happen. Hinata could have sworn she snuck a glance in Sai's direction when she said that too. Hinata looked at Shikamaru, giving him the "did you see that?" look. Shikamaru nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Hinata didn't know that Ino had a thing for Sai. They seemed on such different spectrums. She was popular, cheerful and fashionable. Sai was awkward, quiet and kind of strange. It was nice to know that Ino liked something about him, despite being so different.

_Maybe opposites attract? _What a cliché thought.

Hinata would have to catch up with Ino on that later.

Hopefully, that would mean that she and Naruto were a good match since they were so different. Neji finally got the fireworks to start, and they were absolutely breathtaking. Explosions of blues, greens and reds danced in the beautiful night sky. Hinata watched in complete awe.

She looked away for a moment, to see if everyone else was having as much of a good time as she was. Neji seemed to be proud of his handiwork, and Kiba was getting ready to set off more. Sai and Ino were taking pictures together. Nice idea. Hinata wanted to take some pictures too.

Her eyes looked for Naruto, and they found him standing right next to Sakura. They looked up at the sky in wonder, and Hinata could see the colors of the fireworks reflecting on their faces. She was about to look at the sky herself when something else caught her eye. They were handholding. But it wasn't just the handholding, it was everything that happened before and after that made her heart ache for a little while.

Sakura grabbed Naruto's hand. It wasn't the other way around for once. She actually wanted to hold his hand. And then he blushed. He looked at her and she looked at him. Then they stared at each other for what felt like such a long time to Hinata.

It was then that Hinata felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around she was met with Shikamaru's outstretched arm offering her a piece of cake. They said nothing, but she knew that he saw what she did. She also knew that he saw her watching it, and must have known how much it hurt. She eventually accepted the cake, taking a small bite out of it and returning her gaze back at the sky. Shikamaru stood by her side, arms crossed. It was rather comforting actually.

The fireworks went on for about a few more minutes, then it ended. The sky returned to its original dark color. But Hinata continued to stare at it. She was feeling sort of hollow.

"You gonna be alright?" He finally asked. Hinata shrugged. She would have liked to have been okay but she wasn't. Maybe because this time was different. Because Sakura and Naruto shared this really nice moment. And yes, she and Naruto shared a moment too the other day, but that wasn't as intense as theirs was. Hinata looked right at them, and even squinted her eyes too. She didn't need to though. You'd have to be absolutely stupid to not see the fireworks going off at that moment – and no, she wasn't talking about the ones in the sky.

She wasn't happy because at that moment, Naruto seemed to be even more unattainable. But, Shikamaru definitely did warn her about this. Not to let things like this mess with her happiness. Hinata decided that instead of retreating back to the room to sulk about it, she'd brush it off and keep something else on her mind. But what? What could she possibly do?

It was too bad Akamaru was all grown up now and Kiba couldn't easily take him on train rides. Hinata could have cuddled with Akamaru for a little while and that would have made her feel better. Animals made everyone feel better.

"Oi, buttocks eye!" Kiba called out. Her mouth contorted into a smile and she was lightly snickering. Was that going to be her nickname for the rest of her life? It didn't sound too appealing, but it would have been really funny. "Let's go back to the house. I want something to drink real bad."

"Eh, why am I buttocks eye?" Hinata asked.

"It's a cool nickname for you, don't cha think?" There was nothing cool about being called that at all!

"Yo Kiba! Let's race back up then!" Naruto grinned. He and Sakura weren't in their own little world anymore. But, running back was a terrible idea. They could hurt themselves very badly. Before Hinata could even voice that concern, the two raced right back up to Ino's summer home while the rest of the group cleaned up and took their time walking back. The path was rough and bumpy, so you needed to take caution when walking.

When they got back, Naruto and Kiba were both a mess. Kiba had cuts all over his face while Naruto scraped his knee kind of badly.

"Sheesh Kiba-kun… That wasn't a great idea and you know it." Hinata mumbled, cleaning the last of the cuts on his face and putting a band aid over it.

"Sorry _mom_," Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Oi Hinata, can you clean my cut too?" He gave quite the genuine smile. She wanted to tell him to ask Sakura do it but that would be awful. Then Neji cut in.

"I'll take care of it for you."

* * *

I'm so pathetic. I was so upset – so sad. Haruno-san told him that running back was a stupid idea, and she went into the room, ignoring his request to clean his cut. And of course when she's not available, I'm the next best thing! That doesn't make me feel good at all.

But the reason why I'm so pathetic is because if Neji-niisan hadn't intervened, I would have said yes! I go on and on about not wanting to be second best, but if I keep making decisions like that, I'll wind up in last for sure. I was grateful to Neji-niisan for cleaning Naruto-kun's wound for a second, but then when I heard him cry out in pain I knew he just wanted to mess with Naruto-kun and I immediately felt bad.

Then I was upset at myself for feeling bad. An hour later, I was disappointed at myself for being upset at myself for feeling bad for Naruto-kun. It was horrible.

The trip ended a while ago, and now I'm in my bedroom thinking about things that happened two weeks ago. I guess I'm still not over it. I need to get over it though. Naruto-kun sent me a text message yesterday, asking if I would help him with the homework we got over break. I was so into my little pity party I threw for myself that I had completely forgotten about what I told him during the trip to Ino's summer home.

I was starting to regret that decision.

But I couldn't go back on my word. So I told him that I would and asked where and when he wanted to do work on it. I'm patiently waiting for his response.

Enough about me and my troubled love life.

I spoke to Ino about Sai-san. At first she denied it, but there was a slight quiver in her voice. She was lying. I pushed a bit further and then she admitted to me that she thought he was cute. I know that she flirted with him during our trip from time to time but I wasn't close enough that I could see if she was crinkling her nose or not.

Sai-san is kind of difficult to read. I can hardly tell what he's thinking about most of the time. He sits there, not stoic or anything, but emotionless. There were those few times I saw him smile but I'm not sure if they were genuine or not. I wonder if the feelings Ino has for him are mutual. Maybe when school starts back up again I'll be able to get a good read on how he's feeling.

Oh, Naruto-kun sent me a text message. Apparently he wants to work on it next week at the library. I could definitely do that. Although, I'm pretty nervous about being alone with him again. I was just getting the hang of being around him too without feeling on edge about it.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly at the library.

* * *

My heart sort of ached too when I wrote this. In case you were curious, the story Sai was telling is a Japanese Folklore called Shirime. That's basically what it's about, and I thought it was entertaining. Next season will be fall/autumn (whatever you'd like to call it).

See you in the next one and thanks for reading!


	3. Autumn

Yo! So, here I am with the third chapter of this story, and I've been doing some thinking.

**fried ryce** – While reading your comment, I thought about the whole season thing, and I was going to originally do 8 chapters (y'know, for senior year's spring, summer and all that) but I wanted the story more detailed. So I think after junior year ends I'll do the chapters monthly – because senior year has to be the most detailed!

Also, school really kicked my ass this semester but I'm done with finals and I've started summer! Hopefully I can get more updates out!

Hope you all enjoy this.

* * *

**AUTUMN: **Two Steps Back for Every Step Forward

* * *

I couldn't _believe _Naruto-kun confessed to me what he did at the library.

Okay. I decided to go into the study session with a strict, no nonsense attitude. We had work we needed to get done. There was idle chitchat here and there but we didn't speak much. After an hour or so of silently working, Naruto-kun's pencil stops moving, and he looks up at me with those big blue eyes of his.

Then he tells me lately he's been feeling guilty about hanging out with me. At that point, my heart sank. Guilty? _Guilty?_ Why? If anything, I should have been feeling that way since he was so close with Haruno-san! But I didn't let any indication of disappointment show across my face – I refused to! As calmly as I could, I asked why he had felt that way.

Then, Naruto-kun says, "_I kinda feel like Shikamaru likes you._"

I didn't know if I should have laughed right then and there about how silly the notion was or be absolutely floored that Naruto-kun could even suggest something like that. No doubt, a look of surprise must have rushed across my face because he asked if I didn't believe him.

Now, of course I don't believe him. I know who Shikamaru-kun likes, and it's definitely not me. So I had to ask him why he would say something like that.

"_Ever since our trip at Ino's place he kinda glares at me when I talk to you sometimes. And whenever your name comes up in conversation he tells me to stop talking about you… So I feel a little guilty when it's just me and you._"

Is what he said. How was I even supposed to respond to that?

In a way, I was touched; Naruto-kun would go out of his way to make his friend feel comfortable about a romantic interest.

But still! He was so far off the mark, and I wanted to cry. I assured him that it wasn't the case but Naruto got confused. Then he goes in for the kill. He says,

"_I don't see why you don't think he wouldn't like you. There's lots to like about you Hinata._"

With that warm, enchanting smile of his. And just like that I was down for the count. Oh, Naruto-kun, I don't think you know what your words do to me. I try not to take them to heart, but I know that you mean them with the upmost respect and honesty.

And then I go back to being a lovesick puppy.

I know he's not actively trying to court me or anything, so I shouldn't be expecting anything that comes from his mouth to be said out of love. However, I like to hope that it's the case, or that he may harbor some _very_ miniscule feelings towards me and that's why he says what he says. I know he's just being nice though.

I flopped onto my bed with a long sigh. This is so pointless. I wanted to become closer to Naruto-kun. Now that I am, I don't know if I can keep at it, because we'll probably never be as close as I would like to be.

No, I should be proud of myself. I got closer, and that means that I'm making progress. I'm alright being Naruto-kun's friend. Besides, what would I even do if he were to be my boyfriend…?

I blushed at the thought.

Sure, it's a nice title, but what does it even mean? I wouldn't even know what to do or how to act… Would we hold hands most of the time? Hug occasionally?

_Kiss_?

Ahh! There I go, opening my big mouth! I don't know if I could handle that anyway. It seems a little too awkward, being that close to someone. Or maybe I'm saying that because I'm awkward and would mess up something as a simple kiss. Yes, that's probably true.

Never mind all that embarrassing stuff though. I actually have more important things to think about for once. Like how father wants me to take over the family business after college.

This is nothing new, I knew that this was expected of me for a long time now. However, what _is _new is that father sat me down to talk to me about it a few days ago. I thought it was just some unspoken one-sided agreement between us, and that I would just have to live with it despite not wanting to manage a large company.

In the words of a very intelligent person:

It's too troublesome.

Also, I don't think I can handle it. But, our talk was about enrolling me into Saturday classes and have a friend of his teach me all I need to know about business and law. It sounds really stressful, and I'd never get to hang out with my (very recent, mind you) friends anymore. But when I voiced that concern, I got scolded. Apparently, friends aren't going to provide a stable life style for me and unless they're good network contacts.

How lovely.

Father also said that I'm going to be an adult soon and that I should start thinking about my future. I am thinking about my future! I'm thinking really hard but all I'm seeing is what I'm forced to be doing and not what I personally want to do. But maybe it's for the best. I don't exactly know _what_ I want to do so that's probably why I'm being forced.

I wish he would hear me out sometimes. Maybe if he'd just listen once in a while, he would see that I wasn't all that comfortable with it, and he could help me find something that I'd enjoy doing. Sometimes I think he cares about that stupid business more than my feelings. Neji-niisan always tries to reassure me that it's not true but, I can't seem to shake that feeling.

I'm not looking forward to next year. Not in the slightest.

* * *

"U-um… What is this exactly…?" School had started up again, and Hinata was having lunch with Neji. Rock Lee joined them as well, and she had to say, the room was very lively with him in it. Though, Sai was currently outshining him, in his own strange way. He suddenly rushed over and handed her some sort of booklet. It was probably that doujinshi he was talking about over the summer.

The cover featured a cute, long haired girl who looked eerily similar to Hinata. She wore a long-sleeved top, the shoulders were puffed out and the bodice had a very low cut sweetheart neckline, Hinata noted. Her skirt flared out and only went down to her lower thigh. The outfit was complete with knee high boots, a single line running down the middle of each foot.

The outfit was quite… _revealing_.

"This is what I worked on over the summer. It's called 'Opalescent Wishes: Hope is Restored throughout the World by One Girl's Heart'."

"The title is really long…" Hinata mumbled.

Sai blinked. "Ah, should I change it then?"

Neji, who Hinata and Lee could sense was annoyed, had his eyes closed and arms crossed, his right hand gripping the short sleeve of his uniform shirt. "Sai," he began, "why does this drawing look very similar to Hinata?"

"Oh, she was inspiration to me. When we were playing at the beach, she stuck out the most – quite literally." Sai was either really oblivious or really brave – he even said it with a smile on his face too!

Hinata's face reddened, and she slowly buried it into her hands. Neji's face had gone a little red too, but that was due to anger. He stood up, ready to throttle Sai but Lee held him back.

"Neji! Control yourself! You can't attack people in school!" Lee cried, in an attempt to calm his friend down.

"Unhand me! I'll wipe that stupid smile off of his face! He's worse than Uzumaki!" Neji thrashed about as Sai stood there, the smile still present on his face. As if on cue, Naruto had walked in with Kiba and Sakura. Out of the corner of his eye, Lee saw the pink haired beauty he'd been trying to woo for quite some time now.

"Oh! Sakura-san!" He smiled, skipping off to go talk to her, much to Naruto's displeasure. Neji was finally released and managed to chase Sai around the classroom until they were both in the halls. Hinata had not moved from her position at all.

"What's wrong?" Kiba asked, resting an arm on her shoulder. He kneeled slightly so that they were almost on the same level. The dark haired teen didn't speak. She only removed one of her hands from her face to pass Kiba the comic Sai had worked on over the summer.

Kiba grimaced slightly before putting Sai's work of art back down on the table. "I am so sorry." He sighed, placing a hand out of sympathy on Hinata's shoulder.

(^o^)

The school bells rang out, signifying that the day had finally come to an end. Hinata sat at her desk for a while, watching the rest of her classmates grab their things and walk out. Everything and everyone seemed to be moving at a relatively slow pace, as Hinata could hear idle chitchat that seemed to last forever, and the slow packing of school bags.

"Oi, Hinata!" A familiar voice called out to her by the door. "Me and Shino are heading out. Wanna walk with us?" It's been a while since she was able to walk home with both Kiba and Shino. Sometimes when Kiba was busy with basketball club, she and Shino would walk home together and vice versa with Shino and that entomology club.

"I wish I could, but I'm on cleaning duty today." Hinata sighed.

"Seriously? Man, that sucks." Kiba grumbled. "I'll catch you later then, yeah?"

Hinata nodded as Kiba headed out in the direction of Shino's classroom. A few moments later, she was all alone. She couldn't remember the last time she had been alone in a classroom since the beginning of the year. That day when Ino decided to sit with her, she didn't know how much of an impact she had on Hinata's life.

Hinata moved to the chalkboard, erasing the lecture notes and some scribbles her classmates had done after class was over.

Yes, she would forever be grateful to Ino – she was her first female friend and that really meant a lot to Hinata. Her thoughts were shattered when the door opened once more, revealing Naruto. A light gasp escaped her lips before she resumed erasing the board. Hinata hadn't spoken to Naruto since their time at the library, and she found herself slipping back to old habits – avoiding him.

She hadn't meant to do so. After the whole scene she witnessed with he and Sakura, and that little weird bit about him thinking Shikamaru was pining away for her… she couldn't help it!

He entered, but he didn't say anything to her, much to her relief and yet disappointment. She heard him rummaging through something. Most likely his desk. It was possible he had forgotten something. Unable to stay in the same room, Hinata thought that she'd go fetch a bucket of water and a wash cloth to wipe the board clean. Right when she reached the door, Naruto had called out to her and she froze.

"What's up with you?"

"H-huh?" Hinata finally willed herself to turn around, leaning on the door for support just in case her legs decided to give out on her in this moment. Naruto was sitting on one of the desks closest to the door and had his arms folded. He was almost glaring at her, and his mouth was not smiling at her like it usually did. If anything, it looked like it was on its way to becoming a scowl.

He was annoyed.

"Don't 'huh' me! Why're you ignoring me?"

Hinata heard aggression in Naruto's voice all the time, when he was roughhousing with friends or when he was particularly upset about something or at someone. She had never heard the aggression in his voice when he was speaking to _her_. This was new, and she was positive that she never wanted to get on Naruto's bad side again, for as long as she lived.

"I-I'm not ignoring you…" She managed to stutter. Of course it was a lie, why had she bothered to tell it? Even Naruto could see it, and he grit his teeth.

"I'm not that stupid, Hinata. Don't lie to me. Did I do something to you or somethin'?"

What was she supposed to say? Tell him that she was really offended when he and Sakura shared that one moment during the fireworks? Of course she couldn't! She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She tried to think of something – anything! Nothing came to her.

"Didn't I say that if you had a problem, you should talk to me? It's really annoying when you ignore me, y'know? And you're doing that thing you always do with the – see you're doing it again! Look me in the eye when we talk!" Naruto cried, and her eyes quickly darted to his.

His steely gaze softened when he noticed how red her cheeks were and how she was on the verge of tears. Maybe he took it a bit too far. His gaze shifted towards the window and he sighed. "I'm sorry Hinata. I didn't mean to yell like that," he began, "it's just – I go on thinking we're good friends and then I see you actively trying to get away from me…" His voice trailed off, and Hinata could feel a pang in her heart.

Did she really hurt him that much? She had no idea. To be frank, she didn't think Naruto cared enough or would notice. Naruto obviously took his friendships very seriously.

_Goes to show what kind of friend I am…_

"I… I didn't do it on purpose." She finally spoke up, and Naruto returned his attention towards her. She also willed herself to look at him. "I'm scared that I'll annoy you by hanging around you so often… A-and I've never really had a group of friends before so I didn't want to impose… I'm so sorry…"

It was such a terrible lie, but it was the only think of at the time. Naruto seemed to believe her, and he smiled faintly before leaving his seat on the desk. He walked towards her and grabbed hold of her hands. They were warm, as always. Her face reddened in embarrassment at how close they were but Naruto didn't seem to mind (because he never minded) so she didn't protest.

"Don't keep thinking stuff like that. I like talking to you, y'know. And –"

"Oi Naruto! What takes you so long to find some damn… papers…?" Shikamaru had entered from the door in the front of the classroom while Hinata was leaning on the back door. It was silent for a while as Shikamaru took in the scene before him. Naruto had both of her hands in his, and was a little too close to Hinata – as usual. Hinata looked as if she were crying, and that slightly alarmed Shikamaru.

"What're you doing?"

"Oh shit." Naruto mumbled.

* * *

As if things couldn't get any worse! Now Naruto-kun is _positive _Shikamaru-kun likes me by the skeptical look he threw at us when he walked into the classroom that day. He also thinks that's the reason I've been avoiding him – for Shikamaru-kun's sake! Every time we sit to have lunch or something, and Shikamaru-kun walks in, Naruto-kun scrambles to get away from me! It's insane!

Then Shikamaru-kun shoots me a "what's wrong with him this time" look and I just smile awkwardly. Every. Time. I haven't even gotten a chance to speak with him since that day, and it's killing me. I want to tell him about what Naruto-kun told me over the summer. I want to tell him _why_ this is happening but I just can't seem to get a hold of him when I need to.

I want to scream. This has been going on for a week now and I'm not sure how to go about fixing it. I've thought about texting Shikamaru-kun the situation but this is something that I have to do face to face – we can't read each other as clearly through text messaging as we can in person.

Ino questioned me about it yesterday too, so of course I had to tell her everything. Well, not _everything_ since I haven't told her about my crush on Naruto-kun (not that I needed to, she sort of guessed it), but the fact that he thinks Shikamaru-kun likes me. Ino nearly choked on her drink and then laughed the hardest I've ever heard her laugh.

"_Shikamaru should totally play on that just to mess with Naruto!_"

But I told her that wouldn't be nice and it would give false impressions. But when I said that, she stopped laughing and looked me right in the eyes.

"_Do you…? No way! You like Naruto. I always suspected it, but my suspicions were never confirmed until now!_"

Is what she said. Maybe I'm not as good at hiding my feelings as I thought I was. I didn't confirm it or deny it, but Ino didn't need me to. She already knew and there was no changing that. I feel a little weird about it though, not telling her earlier. Maybe it would have helped. Ino did say that she was a great matchmaker after all.

But we are holding a sleepover at my house, just the two of us, to talk about boy problems. It was her idea, but I didn't mind. I never had that kind of thing before, so when I agreed to it, I was ready to be a stereotypical teenaged girl.

* * *

"Hinata! Come on!" Ino cried, jogging in place by the door. It was Friday afternoon, and school had just ended. Ino was going to spend the weekend at Hinata's house, just like they had planned. Ino wouldn't stop talking about it for the entire week, and it seemed that everyone is school knew what their plans were. It was kind of flattering to know that Ino wasn't so embarrassed with her to keep it a secret.

"Calm down, Ino. My house isn't going anywhere!" Hinata laughed.

"That's not fair! I wasn't even allowed to turn the corner and see the house. Why do you get to go in?" Naruto cried, pointing a finger at Ino. Hinata wondered if the ban of the estate still stood or was it just a one-time thing Neji said that time Naruto walked her home.

"Of course it's fair," Ino smiled, her hands on her hips. "You're a guy; a guy her father doesn't know. Going over to her house out of the blue looks suspicious." A mischievous smile played on her lips as her eyes narrowed. "Or do you want to go to Hinata's house in my place and spend the night with her?"

Suddenly, Ino could feel small hands on her back guiding her out of the classroom and down the hall. "Bye Naruto-kun, see you on Monday!" Hinata called out from the hallway.

"W-wait a sec! He didn't answer my question!" Ino whined.

"You can't invite people over to _my_ house!"

Naruto blinked before letting out a small chuckle. Girls were really weird. He wasn't quite sure what girls did at sleepovers but knowing Ino, they'd certainly talk about fashion and boys.

Boys.

Naruto wondered if they were going talk about Shikamaru's crush on Hinata. Ino and Shikamaru were really close, so Ino had to have known. And Hinata seemed like a completely different person around Ino than she was around him. Maybe it was because Ino was a girl, and she could tell her about her feelings better than she could tell Naruto. He could just see it…

_"So, when do you think Shikamaru will confess to you?" Ino would say, a cat like grin on her face._

_Hinata would blush like usual and place her hands on her cheeks, swaying from side to side. "Oh, I don't know! But I hope it's soon! I really like him!"_

_"Ehh! Do you? Then you should confess!"_

_"But how?" Hinata would gasp and then Ino would hand her a cellphone._

_"Be bold! Call him and let him know your true feelings!"_

_Hinata would be reluctant at first, but then she'd called him and explain her feelings while Ino squealed._

Actually, that scene was debatable. Naruto wasn't sure about Hinata's feelings towards Shikamaru. He smacked his forehead in annoyance. How stupid was he? He should've asked her!

"Are you just gonna stand there all day or what?" Shikamaru's voice called out to him. Snapping out of his thoughts, Naruto shot a smile at him.

"Hey, Shikamaru. Let's have a sleepover!" The prodigy cringed before turning right around and walking down the hall.

"No." He said flatly. Naruto raced after him.

"Wait up! Don't just brush me off!"

(^o^)

"Today was really fun Hinata-chan. Your house is really amazing!" Hinata only smiled. She had given Ino a tour of her home, and then they spent the day playing with Hanabi and bothering Neji. The two had just finished their bath and were both in their pajamas, relaxing on Hinata's soft bed. Since the bath, it was the first time that the two were finally alone and that meant they could finally have the conversation that Ino was just itching to have.

"So," Ino started, with a hint of mischief in her voice, "Naruto?"

Hinata sighed, clutching her pillow closer to her. It was such a long story, she didn't know where to begin. The beginning of the year seemed like a nice place to start, so Hinata told Ino everything, about the trip to the mall, about the walk home, about Shikamaru's warning, everything over summer vacation and the most recent even – Shikamaru walking in on them.

Ino took in everything, adding a couple of girly squeals and "aww"s when needed. When Hinata finally ended her story, Ino looked at her as if she had been in deep thought the entire time. "So, I can see why you'd be jealous and upset. He's all over you one moment and then the next he's moved on to Forehead."

"U-um… You won't tell Haruno-san about it, will you?" Hinata asked meekly. Ino shook her head.

"Of course not! That'd be really mean. To be honest, I don't know what Sakura's feelings are towards him." Sure, Ino teased Sakura about Naruto a lot and while her reactions usually consisted of yelling or scoffing, Ino noticed that once in a while Sakura would tell her to shut up underneath her breath, and her reactions had no energy at all. Ino used to think that Sakura was tired of all of it but after Hinata told her about the moment those two had, maybe she was wrong.

"Don't ask her!" Hinata said suddenly. "I-I mean… even if you do, I don't want to know."

Ino nodded. "Yeah, sure. But why Naruto though? I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy and all, but he doesn't really pick up on feelings and you're kind of out of his league. Almost too good for him. So why?"

Why indeed.

"Well, it's like you said… He's a really nice guy. He's very brave and never gives up on people, and he's really sweet… He's also funny and I think he's… really cute…" Hinata's face had reddened at that point and Ino gave a good-natured chuckle.

There was a vibration on the bed, and Hinata looked down to find that she had a text message. She picked it up to take a look at it and gasped. "It's from Naruto-kun… But at this time?" It was almost midnight. Why was he texting her so late?

"Lemme see!" Ino moved over next to Hinata to get a good look at her phone as she opened the text message. It read:

_Oi, Hinata. Weird question. You don't like Shikamaru, do you? Y'know, like have a crush on him or anything?_

Hinata and Ino exchanged looks before Hinata let out a sigh of exasperation and Ino laughed rather loudly. He had to be kidding right? Why does he still insist on asking about her and Shikamaru? There was nothing between them besides their very recent friendship – that was it!

"Is he jealous or something?" Ino giggled.

Jealous? Of course not. He couldn't be! He was just being slightly nosey is all. "Don't play with my emotions Ino…"

"No seriously. I mean, it's midnight right now. Why is he texting you about a crush that you don't have on one of his friends? He's gotta feel _something_!"

"W-well, what do I say? Do I answer truthfully?"

"No! Run circles around him! Ask him _why_ he wants to know." And so Hinata asked just that. They waited another five minutes before Hinata's phone vibrated again. She was too nervous to open the message, but Ino encouraged her.

_I mean because he likes you doesn't he? And if you like him too, wouldn't it be nice if you two were a couple?_

"What is he? A matchmaker?" Ino cried. Hinata only sighed. "Ask him why he cares. He never cares about relationships unless it's about Billboard Brow."

"B-but I couldn't ask him that!"

Clenching her fists, the blonde frowned. "Hinata, this is a big chance to find out how he feels! You have to or else you'll never know!" Ino was right. She'd never know if she was too afraid to ask the important questions. She breathed heavily, before typing out the characters as Ino had told her and reluctantly hit the send button.

This time the reply was taking longer. Had she scared him off? Oh no… maybe she had been a little too pushy. The sound of the pone buzzing again pierced through Hinata's thoughts as she scrambled to pick up the phone.

_I don't know actually._

Ino opened her mouth to scream. "What do you mean you don't know!?" But a sound never came out of her mouth. It was Hinata who did the yelling. She was obviously flustered and very annoyed – as she should be. Here was this guy that she had the hugest crush on, asking about this nonexistent crush on a boy they both happened to be friends with and when she asks him why he cares, he says he doesn't know!

Just what planet was Uzumaki Naruto from anyway? Because it certainly wasn't Earth. The two went back and forth in their texting before Hinata ultimately gave up trying to understand how his brain worked.

Boys were so weird.

(^o^)

It was Monday, and Hinata needed to have a word or two with Uzumaki-san. The only problem was that Naruto was having a conversation with Shikamaru, and as soon as she'd try to get over there, Naruto would most likely hightail out of there. She could always say that Shikamaru was needed elsewhere, but communicate silently with him, giving him the "I really, _really_ need to Naruto" look. And he'd shrug and be on his way, leaving them to talk alone. Yes, this was perfect.

Mustering up all the courage she could, Hinata walked over to them, forcing a small smile onto her face. "Excuse me," she began, but to her surprise, Shikamaru beat her to the punch.

"Oh, Hinata. Just the person I needed to talk to." He didn't _sound_ like he needed to talk to her, what with all the laziness in his voice. He told Naruto that he'd talk to him later, pressing his hand lightly on the small of Hinata's back and guiding her out of the classroom.

Jeez, her plan had failed before it even started. They were ways away from their classroom before coming to a halt. Hinata finally faced Shikamaru, frowning. He didn't seem to care though.

"So, what's wrong with Naruto? I mean, there's always something wrong in that troublesome idiot's brain for sure, but this is different."

Sighing, Hinata mumbled, "He thinks you like me…" When she looked up at him, his gaze seemed to harden.

"_Seriously_?" He asked incredulously.

"**Seriously**." She said flatly.

"And he didn't think to ask me about it? He just went off telling you about his weird imagination?" Hinata was dumbfounded. Naruto didn't ask Shikamaru about it at all? She was starting to feel a headache coming on.

"I um… I think he didn't want to hurt your feelings or anything…"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Don't defend his stupidity, Hinata. Sheesh, that guy's too troublesome." He shoved his hands into pockets of his pants, leaning against the wall. When Shikamaru took a glance at Hinata, his posture straightened a bit. "What's wrong?"

Hinata told him about what had happened over the weekend and about the time in the classroom. Shikamaru seemed to be at a loss for words. "What do you think he meant by all of that? Ino is so positive that he cares but I don't know…"

Shikamaru thought on it for a while, his eyes closed. "I know it sounds shitty, but don't expect much from it. It sounds like he just wanted to pry."

"Yeah, I knew it sounded too good to be true…" She laughed. It was a bitter laugh, one that sent shivers up his spine.

"Like I said, don't stress about it." Then, Shikamaru walked in the direction of their classroom with Hinata trailing behind him.

* * *

I should have known! I'm so embarrassed that I even thought that Naruto-kun would even care about the possibility that I was in love with someone else.

No use moping about it now… Especially not during class.

I can have a pity party with Ino later.

* * *

"So, any nominations for what we want to do as a class for the culture festival?" Neji asked. He was currently standing at the teacher's podium with a piece of chalk in his right hand. Since he was the student council president, Neji took on the task of facilitating the conversation. This year, he didn't have students screaming at him left and right on what they should do – surprisingly.

It was silent for a moment, and his eyes rested on Hinata, who was looking a little less cheerful than normal.

Noted.

Suddenly, Sai's hand shot up and Neji acknowledged him. "I'd like to do a café, please."

Neji nodded and turned to write the characters of the word _café _on the board.

"Why? They're so boring. Let's do somethin' fun like carnival games." Naruto mused, leaning back in his chair.

"Uzumaki-san, if you have an objection, raise your hand." Neji frowned.

"But you see, the reason why I want to do the café is because of this." Sai said, pulling out the comic he finished over the summer. A loud thud could be heard from the side of the room where the windows were. Hinata had slammed her head down on the desk out of embarrassment.

"Absolutely not!" Neji argued.

"Agreed." Sakura spoke up. "You just want all the girls to wear them while the boys do absolutely nothing. No girl here wants to wear –"

"I'll wear it! It's so cute!" Ino chimed in and Sakura groaned.

Sai shot Sakura a smile. "Don't worry Ugly, you won't have to wear it since it isn't designed for your body shape."

"**WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME!?**" The pink-haired beast was now raging with fury as Naruto and a few other students attempted to hold her back.

"Sai! I told you that's not a good nickname!" Naruto hissed. Sai actually looked genuinely surprised.

"Oh. Then should I just call you Forehead like Ino does?"

"**LEMME GO! I'LL KILL HIM!**"

Ino only chuckled at Sakura's even bigger outburst. "Sorry Sai, but that nickname's reserved for me only. You'll have to try again." Ino said in a singsong voice.

"Ah, shoot. I'll come up with something soon Sakura, you don't need to be angry." Sai reassured her.

The side of Naruto's face was beginning to be squished by Sakura's foot as she tried to leap across the desks to obliterate Sai. "Sai… That's not even remotely close to why she's angry…" He managed to murmur.

"Ahem! If we could get back on topic, please?" Neji asked, already annoyed.

"I actually want to do the café. It looks like fun." One of the girls had called out. A few other students agreed.

"No, I want to do something else!" Another argued. Soon, the class was in uproar about this stupid café that Neji came to despise quickly.

"SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN! ALL OF YOU!" Neji barked, and everyone did as instructed – even Sakura, though she did so reluctantly. Clearing his throat, Neji was able to compose himself. "Okay. Since everyone seems to be on opposing sides on this, let's take a vote. All those who are unopposed, raise your hands."

At that moment Hinata lifted her head up to see who was all for it, but she didn't get far at all when her so called best friend happened to have his hand raised.

"You too, Kiba-kun?"

"Hmm? Oh, come on. I actually read it. The art is fantastic and the storyline and plot is really complex and unexpected." He grinned.

"Traitor…" Was all Hinata could mumble.

"Fifteen, sixteen…" Neji finished counting. "Well, since there's only 30 people in this class and 16 of you want this café, it's decided. We're doing the café." Neji said begrudgingly. Cheers and groans of annoyance filled the air.

"So, who exactly is going to make these costumes, Sai?" Neji questioned.

"Oh, I know a guy."

(^o^)

"And so now we get to see Hinata in a cool magical girl outfit." Kiba said, taking a sip of his juice box. He and Hinata decided to have lunch with Shino today in his classroom. Shino usually came to them but, their classroom was rather noisy.

"No, I don't want to… it's embarrassing."

"That sounds really fun. That is because it is a group effort." Shino nodded. Hinata groaned.

"What's your class doing, Shino?" Kiba asked.

Shino took a bite out of his lunchbox before speaking. "We're doing a food stand, but I don't really care much for it. I will say that the Entomology club is holding a lecture and lab on different types of insects. That is because –"

"No, Shino-kun. No more talking about bugs during lunch time!" Hinata cried. She didn't really like bugs, but Shino was always fond of them, so she and Kiba always showed their support. Hinata only had two rules when it came to Shino's bugs.

Rule number 1. Do not speak about bugs while eating.

Rule number 2. Do not let bugs out of the containers unless she was 25 feet away from them.

Other than that, she was moderately okay with them. Shino nodded. "Sorry about that." It was silent for a moment before Shino spoke up again. "Isn't the basketball club holding team games for outsiders to play?"

"Yup!" Kiba grinned enthusiastically. "We're doing it outside too. It'll be great! Hopefully we'll get new recruits too." The shaggy haired teen then fixed his gaze on Hinata. "Hmm, Hinata's apart of the Go Home club so she isn't doing anything~!" He teased.

"You're too mean, Kiba-kun. I actually thought of joining a club, but I'm unsure…"

Shino and Kiba exchanged looks before drawing their attention to Hinata. "And what club is that?"

"Oh, it's the um… The art club." As much as she didn't want to admit it right now, what Naruto told her over summer break really stuck with her. She was a good cook, and excellent at knitting as well as other arts and crafts. She really wanted to hone her skills and maybe she could do _something_ with her life that she actually loved to do.

"Ah that's really nice Hinata. That is because –"

"Now you can make all kinds of cool things for us, riiiight?" Kiba laughed, completely cutting Shino off.

Hinata blinked. "But, I already make a ton of stuff for you guys."

"Yes, I still have those pink mittens and socks you knitted for me for Christmas two years ago." Shino said. Hinata remembered making those along with the matching sweaters she made for Kiba and Akamaru too. Akamaru had used up all of her black and red yarn and pink was all that she had on such short notice. She was a little embarrassed handing them to him and even Kiba laughed, but Shino really appreciated them and said that they would help him stand out. She was relieved to know that he didn't throw them away.

"Do you really? I outgrew my sweater actually." Kiba smiled sheepishly.

"Oh! I can make a new one for you! It's gotten a lot colder since it's almost November now."

"No, save it for Christmas! Then we can all have a Christmas party and exchange presents!" Hinata nodded. Hopefully the three of them could spend Christmas together again. They weren't able to last time since Hinata's family took a trip out of the country.

"Oh, class is about to start…" Said Shino quietly.

"Crap! Come on Hinata, let's go! Later Shino!"

(^o^)

Hinata was in her bedroom, finishing up some homework when a knock on the door tore her from her work.

"Oh, come in."

"Please excuse me." Neji said, entering her room. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Hinata tilted her head to the side. Something he wanted to talk to her about? I must have been really important for him to enter her room. Usually, he'd just text her since their rooms were on different floors.

"I noticed you looking a little down earlier in class, right when homeroom began. Did something happen?"

Right when homeroom began? Oh no, that was right after she and Shikamaru had that conversation about Naruto! Had she really been that obvious? She was starting to get sloppy about hiding her emotions. But, Ino had taught her a trick. Ino said that when you lie, you need to stare them right between the eyes. Hinata thought to utilize it here and now.

"Nothing happened. Not that I remember anyhow." She lied.

Obviously Ino lied to her too, because Neji wasn't buying it. He just stared at her with more intensity until she finally cracked.

"Okay! I was sad earlier, but I can't tell you why…"

"Uzumaki?"

Hinata bit her bottom lip. Did everyone just happen to know!?

"Hinata," Neji began, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I don't understand why you go through such great lengths for this guy. Is it really worth it?"

The dark haired teen sighed. Was it worth it?

* * *

I don't know anymore! I say I like all these things about him but why do I struggle so much for a guy who will never look at me the same way that I look at him? And everyone's asked me this question a bunch of times in a hundred different ways!

"_What do you see in him?_"

"_Why do you like him?_"

"_Why him though? There are tons of better people out there?_"

And I always defend why I like him. But, should I still like him if it makes me miserable? Should I still like him if he runs circles around me and leaves me confused? At one point, I was proud to have a crush on Naruto-kun. I admired him in every way, and I always felt a wave of confidence wash over me when he'd cheer everyone on for any event we were participating in.

Now, I don't want to like him, but I do – and it makes me upset. I hate the way that he's always on my mind, and I hate the way that I tense up when I hear his voice or when he touches me. I want to get him out of my head. I want this stupid infatuation or whatever it is to just go away and never come back so that I can finally just be normal for once in my life. Boys should never be stressed over – and yet here I am, lying on my bed doing exactly that! I hate how he makes me feel, but I could never hate him. And that really makes me resent myself sometimes.

How am I supposed to be able to better myself as a person if I don't like myself because of this stupid obsession I have over a boy – one who didn't really know I existed until quite recently actually! I don't know what's wrong with me. It's like, I take one step forward and two steps back. Sure, making friends was a huge step for me, but, I also wanted to like myself and it isn't even working.

And to make things worse, I've been trying my hardest not to avoid him. Because that actually makes him upset! And of course I don't want to upset him, so I just grit my teeth and hold idle chitchat with him. Of course, Naruto-kun will suspect that something isn't right sooner or later and he'll argue with me and ask why but I just can't bring myself to tell him "Hey, I really like you and it really hurts to like you so I'm trying to remove myself from you." Would that even be a confession?

I don't know. All I know is that I want to be able to finally get away from this stressful situation. I think I should start knitting Kiba-kun's sweater to do that. Oh, but I don't know his measurements...

I think in the meantime, I'll knit him a hat that will keep his ears warm.

* * *

"Wow Hinata-chan! You look great in that!" Ino chirped. It was the day of the culture festival and everyone had more or less finished changing into their outfits. Hinata's costume was slightly different than all the other girls and was the color blue while everyone else's were pink. Sai explained that it was because the heroine of his comic was based heavily off of Hinata's looks and somewhat of her personality, so it made sense that she would have to stand out among the rest of her peers.

"Th-thanks… It's kind of embarrassing though… You look really nice too, Ino." And Hinata wasn't lying. It seemed that Ino could pull off anything that she wore, which Hinata kind of envied.

"Hey, you two. Stop chitchatting and get ready to start working." Neji scolded. Sai actually had outfits for the boys too. They were similar to what Hinata wore, but the sleeves were less puffy, and they wore vests and slacks too. Today, the boys were looking a lot more sophisticated than normal.

"Whatever you say Neji-_nee-chan_~!" Ino teased, mimicking Hanabi in the process before she skipped off with Hinata. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Neji was quite embarrassed by the large blush on his face, and stunned since he didn't have a comeback lined up. Hinata let out a small giggle.

"Where's Sai anyway?" Hinata questioned, as she finished setting up one of the tables. Ino scoffed.

"He's outside, shamelessly self-promoting his comic and getting people to come in. Sai's got a pretty face but he's pretty rude without knowing it. You should go out there and give him a hand." Hinata nodded and parted ways with Ino to assist Sai.

When she walked out to explain the situation, he looked her up and down before looking at his own comic. "Oh. I think the expression of her face is different from the one you have now."

"Huh?"

"While drawing this character, I looked at the photos I took of you over the summer as a face reference. Your expressions looked much more energetic in the photos."

Shoot! Even Sai was onto her. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'll try to do my best!" She smiled. "Actually, I wanted to tell you that – Oh! Welcome to our café! Please come in!" Hinata greeted a couple, trying to get them to visit the café. It seemed that luck was on her side today, because the woman murmured "how cute" before taking one of Sai's sample comics and heading inside.

"So, I wanted to tell you that I'm going to join the art club."

"Oh, I didn't know you wanted to join. Why's that?"

"Well, I – Ah, welcome, welcome! …I just thought it would be a lot of fun and I was wondering if you'd help teach me a few things since you're really talented."

At that moment, Sai scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Hah, how embarrassing."

"What's embarrassing?" Naruto had walked up to them, and he was dressed in his costume for today. A light blush hit Hinata's cheeks as she stared for a second too long before averting her gaze. He looked so handsome…

"That outfit doesn't suit you at all." Sai said rather bluntly, and Naruto cringed.

"And whose fault is it that I'm wearing this stupid thing!?"

Against her better judgement, Hinata spoke up in her usual soft voice, "I… I think you look nice…" Why'd she say that? She could've said a million other things or she could have even kept her mouth shut, but no! Her mouth was a traitor, letting secrets out of her brain one moment but not being able to confess her feelings the next.

However, much to Hinata's surprise, Naruto's cheeks had turned a light pink color and he scratched the side of his face, averting his own gaze from her. "I know you're just trying to be nice, but thanks… It's not really my style at all." Well, wonders never ceased! Naruto was actually embarrassed about being in that get-up almost as much as she was.

Sai nodded. "Yes, Hinata is too nice."

"Why you – !"

"Uzumaki-san! Hurry up and come help us in here!" One of the student's voices called out from the classroom.

"You're not off the hook yet." Naruto scowled at Sai before entering the classroom. The two spent a while greeting guests as Hinata led them in before Sai spoke to her again.

"Did you see something you liked earlier?" Sai inquired, his head cocked to the side. Hinata's posture slumped and she frowned.

"This is the second time you've asked me that and I'm starting to think you're not joking anymore."

The pale-skinned artist only replied with a strange giggle.

(^o^)

There were only 15 students working the café, and the rest were out enjoying the rest of the culture festival. Neji slightly envied them. He had to work all day for his class today, and tomorrow, he was in charge of introductions for stage performers in the auditorium. There didn't seem to be a nice break in his future where he could just relax and hang out with friends from a different class.

…Not that he'd ever admit it to Lee and Tenten. They'd never shut up about any soft sides he may have had. A gruff voice called out to him, erasing his thoughts.

"Oi, Neji. I'm going on my break now. Sakura-chan and Ino just got back from theirs." Today, Naruto was working quite diligently, Neji had to say. He didn't even have to yell at him once.

"Yeah, just make sure your break is no more than 20 minutes long," the sliding of the door forced Neji to glance in that direction. Hinata had entered and was looking a bit tired. It couldn't be helped, since she had to get everyone to come inside and was basically being gawked at by most who laid eyes on her. It was really annoying he couldn't do anything about it. "Oh, Hinata. Hiashi called me earlier. He should be here in five minutes or so."

Hinata tensed as she heard her father's name.

Naruto, who was just about ready to go on break, was confused. "Hiashi?"

"Hinata's father and my uncle." Neji explained.

"I can't stay here if he's coming! N-Neji-niisan! Please allow me to go on break!" Hinata was frantic, and for good reason too. If her father saw her dressed the way she was, he'd never let her leave the estate. She'd have to be homeschooled!

"Is it that bad if he comes here…?" Naruto asked.

Hinata could see it now:

_"Welcome to our café!" Hinata would say in a singsong voice, tilting her head to the side. "How may we ser- Ah! F-father!"_

_Hiashi would look his daughter up and down before cringing and balling up his fists. "H-Hinata! My pure and innocent daughter! What is this that you have on!?"_

_"I-it's a magical girl outfit…" She'd stutter._

_"A WHAT!?" He'd suddenly grab her wrist tightly. "Who was it!? Whose idea was this!? __**I'll sue the school! You're never coming out of the house again! Do you hear me Hinata!?**__"_

"Yes! Very!" Hinata nodded vigorously.

Neji hummed in thought for a moment before opening his eyes. "I guess it can't be helped. I'll find someone to take your spot outside then."

"I can do it for you Hina-chan~!" Ino piped in. "We wouldn't want to upset Papa Hyuga, now would we?"

"Don't call him that, it's weird!" Neji scolded.

Naruto gave a sympathetic smile. "If that's the case, then do you wanna wear my tracksuit jacket? It might be kinda big but it should cover you just in case we run into him on our break."

Hinata agreed quickly and Naruto handed her his jacket. She zipped it up all the way to her neck before waving goodbye to Ino and Neji. The jacket sleeves were long enough to cover her hands and big enough so that she was moderately covered – even though Naruto wasn't taller than her by that much. Now that she realized it, she was actually spending her break with Naruto, and it was killing her. She was so wrapped up in trying to get away from her father that she didn't even notice.

"So, do you not like your dad or somethin'?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence between them. Hinata shook her head softly.

"No, it's nothing like that. He's just a very overprotective father… and if he saw me dressed like this, he'd raise hell for sure…"

"Overprotective?" Naruto repeated. Even more so than Neji? Naruto shivered at the thought. No wonder Hinata was so shy. She had people like that watching her like a hawk so of course no one wanted to approach her.

"Mhmm. B-but he's really cool in his own way. Neji-niisan learned everything he knows about martial arts from my father, and he hasn't even learned everything yet. Ah, Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

Naruto looked the palest Hinata had ever seen him – even paler than Sai. "Your family's really scary, Hinata…" Now he was definitely sure they were the reason no one approached her.

"Really? They're not so bad…" Hinata mumbled and Naruto hastily searched for a way to make her feel better.

"Well, I'm sure they're not! I'm just saying – ah! Are you okay kid?"

A little girl had fallen right in front of them, scraping her knee in the process. The two of them had kneeled down to help the child up, who had started to cry.

"N-no… I lost my daddy and now I can't find him…" Naruto and Hinata exchanged looks of worry before returning their attention to the girl. Hinata wanted to fix the scrape on her knee first but Naruto had pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping the little girl's tears with it.

"Don't worry little sis, we'll find your dad for you. I'll even pinky promise on it." He grinned. There was a light sparkle in his eye when he said this and when the little girl accepted, he gave her the warmest of smiles.

They walked to the infirmary to get the child's knee patched up first and for the first time in a long time, Hinata wasn't feeling nervous or intimidated by Naruto. She just felt warmth radiating from him.

* * *

I know now. I know why he's worth it. On that day, it felt like I was falling in love all over again. The way he was so nurturing towards that little girl, and when he cleaned her cut for her and carried her on his back – it was so refreshing to see. When our break was over and we still hadn't found him, Naruto-kun took her to our classroom, and watched over her until her father got word that we were looking for him and came into our classroom.

Everyone teased him, calling him "_Naruto-nii-chan_", and he got a little embarrassed. It was so cute. And when I watched him, I realized why I like him so much. Naruto-kun goes out of his way to make people feel good when they're visibly upset or hurt. He gives up so much of himself to make others smile and I can tell that he loves doing it by the way that his eyes shined.

Naruto-kun is a very good person. I'm glad that I was able to see that – I think I needed to see it. I think that's why he asked for my feelings on Shikamaru-kun when he did. He really wanted us to be happy. Sure, he was mistaken, but he cared enough to try to not step on any toes and tried to make sure that we felt the same way about each other before going any further.

Naruto-kun does care. Maybe not from a romantic standpoint, but he does care about all of his friends.

He cares about Haruno-san the most, but it's okay.

I'm just glad I fell in love with such a nice person.

* * *

Thank you for reading! Next chapter is winter! Can you believe their second year went by so fast? Hahaha.


	4. Winter

Writing a winter chapter while I'm on summer vacation is weird.

But oh well. Here it is!

* * *

**WINTER: **Presents Warm My Heart on Winter Days

* * *

"So, I spoke to Hinata the other day." Shikamaru said. Naruto's eyes darted over towards him quickly. Did he confess? Did she reject him? He at least wanted her to tell him how she felt before Shikamaru asked her out, but she kept dodging the question. Hopefully she felt the same way about him too. Naruto swallowed hard before urging his lazy friend to continue.

"She told me that you think I like her."

Naruto blinked. "Err… Do you not like her?"

"No, you idiot."

There was a long silence between them before Naruto's cheeks reddened from embarrassment. Uh-oh. But what if Hinata actually did like Shikamaru? Then her heart would have been crushed for sure.

"So, does she…?"

"No."

Well that was a relief. "But, if you don't then how come you're always acting like that?" Naruto inquired, very confused. Shikamaru only raised his eyebrow in question, and Naruto continued. "I mean, when I talk about her you get annoyed and when I hang out with her you look annoyed. And then over the summer you kinda snapped at me that one time when I tried to talk to her, y'know?"

"That's because you don't understand other people's feelings." Shikamaru shifted his position on his couch, sitting upright this time. Naruto watched curiously, waiting for him to speak again. But he didn't, and Naruto was slightly annoyed.

"Um, you gonna tell me what you mean by that sometime today or what!?"

"Think about it. Hinata's an introverted person. She's not used to a ton of new friends hanging around her. You're not making her feel better since the only time you wanna talk to her is when Sakura isn't around." Shikamaru yawned. "Hell, you don't pay attention to anyone else unless Sakura isn't around."

The blond was about to speak up, denying the notion but thought better of it. Had he always been paying attention to Sakura so much? He thought he was doing a good job of making time for his friends. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't been hanging out with Sai, Kiba or Ino a whole lot lately. This was the first time in weeks that he was properly hanging out with Shikamaru. Even Hinata… The most recent thing he could remember was when they spent those 20 minutes together during the culture festival in the beginning of November. It was December.

He felt bad.

"So, do y'think she's mad?" He questioned.

"I wouldn't say mad. Hinata's rarely mad. I'd say disappointed probably." Naruto stayed quiet as Shikamaru continued. "That's why I was annoyed. You can't just dump us anytime Sakura decides she's not giving you the cold shoulder."

"Dump you? You sound jealous." Naruto laughed.

"Yeah right," Shikamaru scoffed, "I could care less. I don't have to deal with your annoying ass too often." Naruto huffed. "But Hinata is a little more delicate than I am. There's a reason why she only had very few close friends."

Naruto never thought about that. He teased Hinata about it a while ago, but he never thought to ask her why. Well, if she was feeling down, Naruto would just have to cheer her up! But what could he do? He'd need help from an expert on this.

(^o^)

He was watching her intently. But not only her. Them. Hinata, Kiba and Shino were having lunch at her desk, and Naruto watched them, trying to get a feel for how he could get her to be cheerful around him again, and to make up for being a bad friend. Something caught his eye. She pulled out something white and brown from her schoolbag. A hat?

"Oh nice! They look just like Akamaru's ears!" Kiba cried, putting on the hat. "And they keep my ears warm too."

"I wanted to make the sweater, but I forgot that I didn't take your measurements down…" Hinata gave an apologetic smile. Kiba stood up suddenly, his arms stretched out at his sides.

"Then do it now!"

"But I don't have anything to measure you with…"

"I want a hat too…" Shino muttered. Hinata turned to face him.

"Oh, I can do that. Leave it to me!" She smiled.

Shino nodded. "I want it to be pink… so that they match my mittens…"

Kiba's posture slouched as he gave Shino an incredulous look. Hinata only giggled. Naruto never noticed how close they all were. Hinata just looked so relaxed when she was with them. The blond kind of envied that. Hinata always seemed like she was on her guard every time she hung out with him. But right now, her smile was wide and bright and her posture wasn't so stiff. She seemed free.

Maybe he'd ask Shino what he could do to get her to loosen up around him and get her to be as cheerful as she was now. Kiba probably wouldn't be much help anyway, and would run his mouth to Hinata the moment he knew of Naruto's plans.

He'd ask Shino about it after school.

(^o^)

"So, do you know what she likes?" Naruto asked. He told Kiba to inform the upperclassmen in the basketball club that we was going to be a little late. If he wasted any time, he'd miss his chance to talk to Shino about Hinata. Right now, he was standing at the bug lover's desk, who hadn't even gotten a chance to stand up to leave.

Shino pushed his sliding glasses up his face, his gaze never leaving Naruto. "But, why?"

"Because I wanna make it up to her, like I said!"

Shino frowned at his words. "Did you two have a fight or something?"

"No. I guess I kinda made her upset." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.

"What did you _do_?" Boy, Shino sure did seem to be a bit defensive today. Maybe that's why Shikamaru had told him there was a reason she didn't have many friends. Because the ones she did were really protective of her.

"I mean, I kind of made her disappointed in me, so I want to make up for it. What do I do?" Shino was lost in thought for a moment. He wasn't sure what Naruto wanted to do, but if it was going to make Hinata feel better about whatever situation those two were in, he'd help out in any way he could.

"You could get her a birthday present."

"When's her birthday?"

"Two days after Christmas."

Naruto probably wouldn't get to see her then. He had other things to do around then that he couldn't get out of, but giving it to her on Christmas would work. And then he got an idea.

"Okay! I got it! Thanks Shino!" Naruto cried, running off to the gym. "Oh! And _don't _tell Hinata or Kiba about this!"

Shino sighed. What was going through Uzumaki's mind?

(^o^)

"A Christmas party?" Hinata repeated. Naruto nodded. Apparently, he was having a get-together at his house and everyone was invited, including her.

"A party sounds fun! I'm in!" Kiba grinned as he and Naruto high-fived each other.

"But, is it really okay? Won't your parents mind?" Hinata asked, tilting her head to the side.

Naruto gave a small laugh. "You're so nice, Hinata; thinking about everyone." She failed to fight off the small blush that hit her cheeks. "It's fine. My parents are spending Christmas together out of the country."

How sad. That meant that Naruto was usually alone on Christmas. But he seemed completely fine. And Hinata knew he wasn't lying, because Naruto's feelings weren't cryptic; except for his feelings on her. "I'll go too…" she nodded.

"Ehh? You don't look all that thrilled about it, Hinata." Naruto mumbled, giving a small pout. Oh, he was just too adorable right now.

"I-it's not like that that all. I was just wondering if you'd be okay doing everything by yourself. Like cooking and stuff..." Naruto stared at her for a moment without a word.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to prepare basic meals." Kiba frowned.

The blond only chuckled nervously.

"…You don't know how to prepare basic meals." Kiba said flatly. A light laugh made its way from Hinata's lips as Naruto argued with Kiba about being able to make instant ramen. So Naruto wasn't a great cook. Maybe one day if she had the courage, she'd offer to give him a few lessons. Eating only instant ramen while his parents were away couldn't be healthy for him.

"I guess it can't be helped then. Me and Hinata'll help you out, since you're hopeless." The white-eyed teen gasped. Why was Kiba signing her up for things that she didn't even agree to? The thought of going to Naruto's house made her knees weak. She couldn't imaging cooking for him at his house too! Naruto's scoff brought her out of her thoughts.

"Hah, _you_ know how to cook?" Naruto laughed as Kiba balled up his fists in annoyance.

"You're in no position to talk! Of course I do! My mom taught me everything I know." Kiba was a decent cook since he had to provide for himself when his mother went away – because his sister was absolutely useless in the kitchen! The dog-lover had to step up and be the older sibling by doing the cooking, cleaning and laundry.

"I'm not interested in your cooking. You'd probably bring dog food." Naruto's snide remark caused Kiba to cry out in frustration but the blond ignored it and focused his attention on Hinata, giving her a bright smile. "I'm more interested in having some of Hinata's yummy cooking. Right, Hinata~?"

A light blush crept onto her cheeks as he said this. Now Hinata really couldn't say no! He wanted to eat her cooking… Just the thought could make her die from happiness. Just as she was about to answer, Kiba held an arm out in front of her, blocking her from Naruto.

"Hold on a sec! You think you're just gonna have Hinata at your house _alone_ before the party starts, cooking for you?"

The blond nodded. "Yeah, why not?"

"You've got some nerve! I'm coming too – whether you like it or not!"

"Sheesh! Fine, since you wanna make a big deal out of it."

* * *

That's because it _is_ a big deal, Naruto-kun! I was about ready to faint! As if cooking for Naruto-kun wasn't enough to get my heart racing… He wouldn't have minded that I was in his house _alone_ with him? I guess he isn't too keen on social norms…

I'm glad Kiba-kun is going with me… I don't think I could be alone with Naruto-kun at his house.

The fact that I'm spending Christmas with him is really exciting though. Oh, I can't keep myself from giggling! We're doing gift exchanging there too, so I brought a teddy bear and wrapped it in a box. I wasn't really sure what to buy. I'm also bringing Kiba-kun's sweater and Shino-kun's hat that I'm currently knitting. He'll be so happy when he finds that there's a pompom attached to the top of it.

I wonder what I should make for the party. Kiba-kun wants to get there really early so that we can finish by time everyone else shows up. Father objected at first, but then I reminded him that he wasn't even going to be here on Christmas day. He's going to some party with his coworkers on that day, as usual. Because of that, we would always celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve but now father works then too.

He works too hard. I mean, he's the CEO and he can't take one day off to spend time with us? I don't think I want to be in the business if I never had time for my family…

I think he felt a bit guilty when I told him that he was going out on Christmas too. That was probably the only reason I was permitted to go to the party.

And I'm okay with that.

* * *

"Wow, it's a lot cleaner than I expected." Kiba mumbled, taking off his shoes. He and Hinata just made it to Naruto's house, and were getting settled in. Hinata had taken it upon herself to put her present under a small tree by the kotatsu.

"Of course it's clean! Do you really think I'd trash my parent's house while they were away?" Naruto cried.

"Oh, when do they come back?" Hinata asked.

"Tomorrow. We're gonna spend time together for a whole week straight after that."

That was good. Hinata was worried that Naruto was going to spend his vacation all alone. "Um, do you have aprons? I kind of wanted to get started."

"Already Hinata? Let's just relax for a bit." Kiba said, seating himself under the kotatsu. Naruto did the same, motioning for Hinata to join them. She frowned.

"Kiba-kun." She started with a firmness in her voice. "It was your idea to come here early. We can play later."

To Naruto's surprise, Kiba got up begrudgingly and followed her into the kitchen. He hadn't heard her voice take that tone since that time they were together over the summer. Hinata was a really interesting person, he concluded. She was so shy and soft-spoken with him, but she was bright and bubbly when she was with Ino and almost motherly towards Kiba and Shino.

In all honesty, he was a little disappointed Kiba showed up early. It would have been nice to get to know Hinata a little more and it would have been easier if it was just the two of them. Oh well, there would be other chances.

Then it dawned on him.

Crap! He needed to be alone with her so he could give her the birthday present he got her. Neji wasn't going to be here today, but Kiba seemed to take on the role of protective family member when her cousin wasn't around. Come to think of it, Shino sort of acted like that the other day too. Shikamaru was also like that over the summer. Was _everyone_ like that when it came to Hinata?

Naruto gave a long sigh. What was he going to do?

(^o^)

"Cheers!" Ino cried, as the group hit their glasses together. It was about three in the afternoon and Hinata and Kiba just barely finished cooking before everyone else arrived. Hinata didn't think it would have taken so long, but Naruto wanted to help too and despite Kiba's protests, she let him into the kitchen. She had to gently push him out when he dumped salt into the cake batter instead of sugar, causing her to start all over again.

"Ah, the food looks good! Oh, you made fried chicken too!" Sakura smiled, ready to dig in.

"Yup! My specialty!" Kiba laughed. Besides that, the table was decorated in all sorts of cooked meats, noodles, rice and a Christmas cake that sat in the middle of all the food. Out of all the things that she made, Hinata was most proud of that cake.

"I didn't know Hinata could cook." Sai said softly. "This is really good." The dark haired teen gave a sheepish smile.

"Of course~! She's _my_ Hina-chan – she can do anything!" Ino smiled haughtily.

Sakura shot her a jaded look. "You sound like a proud father."

"You also sound way too noisy." Shikamaru said lazily, much to Ino's displeasure.

"Hey Shino, why do you still have that hat on? Aren't you warm?" Kiba asked.

Shino shook his head. "It's the one Hinata made me for Christmas. I like it."

"It's very… pink." Naruto said.

"…That is because it's my favorite color."

"Eh? Mine too." Sakura laughed.

"Of course it is…" Ino mumbled, causing Sakura to slap her on the arm.

"Oh right! Speaking of Christmas presents, do you guys wanna exchange them now?" Naruto asked. After the food was all done, the group finally decided on passing the presents around in a circle until Naruto called for everyone to stop. Everyone was more or less content with their presents. Ino had gotten the teddy bear Hinata brought as a present and decided to name it Hina-boo-bear, to honor her. There was a pink tint on her cheeks after hearing that.

"A gift card to Ichiraku's…" Shikamaru mumbled. "Why couldn't you just buy a normal present like everyone else?"

"Eh? Of course it's normal!" Naruto cried, but Shikamaru ignored him. Still, he slipped it into his wallet as Naruto went on about how great his favorite ramen shop was. Shino had gotten a CD from Shikamaru. It was supposed to help you fall asleep with its soothing, hour-long soundtrack.

Kiba had gotten some scented candles from Sakura, while she got a universal gift card from Ino.

"What's this?" Naruto asked, pulling out a t-shirt from a present box.

"Oh that's mine." Kiba grinned. It was a band t-shirt that Kiba purchased the other day. It was his favorite band and he convinced Naruto that he should listen to them sometime. The blond didn't hesitate to try on the t-shirt either – it was actually a perfect fit.

Hinata had received a lovely painting from Sai. It was a landscape painting during nighttime and she couldn't take her eyes off of the beautiful details of each blade of grass and the light of the moon shining down in certain areas. She was sure to frame it in her room.

"A bug?" Sai said. Hinata, Ino and Sakura let out squeaks and cries of fear while Kiba sighed.

"Really Shino? We said no bringing weird th-"

"I'll treasure it forever." Sai said suddenly, totally absorbed in the little beetle moving around in its plastic home.

"_S-seriously?_" Kiba asked, his posture slumped.

(^_^)

After the gift exchanging was complete, everyone found different things to occupy themselves with. Kiba and Ino were playing a video-game together on the television while Sakura watched on intently. Sai was so invested in this beetle that he began to sketch it as Shino gave him a mini lecture on beetles. Shikamaru, who was full from the meal, slept underneath the Kotatsu. Hinata said that she would handle washing the dishes, and Naruto quickly offered to help her, under the guise that this was his house. While it was true, he was more focused on being alone with her so he could hand her the birthday present he got.

It was quiet between the two. They weren't even making eye contact. She would pass him the dishes she finished washing and he would dry them with a small towel and place them in the cabinet. At one point, when she passed him one of the dishes, a part of his hand landed on top of hers. This sudden interaction had caused them to look at each other for the first time since they were alone together. It wasn't until Hinata's finger moved slightly that Naruto took the plate from her, mumbling a small apology. She looked away, embarrassed at the fact that they had looked at each other for such a long time.

"Um, Hinata?" Naruto called to her, breaking the silence. She turned her head to look at him, signaling for him to continue. "I actually… Got you a present, since your birthday's coming up and all."

She was taken aback. Uzumaki Naruto got _her_ a birthday present? "But how did you know when my birthday was?"

"I asked Shino." The blond smiled. When Hinata went to ask why, his smile faltered a bit. "Well, I spoke to Shikamaru, and he told me I wasn't being a very good friend to you." He paused for a moment. "So I thought about all the things I could do to make it up to you, y'know? And I decided that I wanted to get you something that'd make you happy. So here." He handed her a rectangular box from his pocket. She reluctantly took it, still in a daze from what he said.

There was no wrapping paper on it; just a lavender ribbon tied around the white box. She gently pulled away the silk ribbon, stuffing it in her pocket. Her hand rested on the cover of the box for a moment before she lifted it carefully.

"Oh wow…" She said breathlessly. It was absolutely beautiful! He had gotten her a necklace – a beautiful pearl necklace. The way it shined in the light was absolutely gorgeous. When did he even buy it? A better question would be _how_ did he buy it? It looked quite expensive!

"Do you like it?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I would've given it to you for your birthday but my parents're coming back tomorrow so I'll be hanging out with them."

"I love it… But, wasn't it too much money? It looks so expensive…"

Naruto gave a small laugh. "Don't worry about it! Gama-chan's fine."

Hinata blinked. "Gama-chan?"

"Mhmm. He's my frog-shaped wallet." Hinata giggled. "And besides, if it makes you happy, then who cares about expense, right?"

* * *

I don't even have any words. I didn't know what to say then and I don't know what to say now! Naruto-kun went out of his way to buy me a birthday present. But not just any old present – a necklace! I wanted to cry tears of happiness right then and there! I was so happy that he thought to do something like that.

I spoke to Shino-kun about it when we he, Kiba-kun and I went to visit the shrine on New Year's. I was surprised when I found out he knew that Naruto-kun had gotten me a present. Apparently Shino-kun said that Naruto-kun told him not to tell. Shino-kun is a man of his word. I also called Shikamaru-kun about it. He was blown away.

"_I told that idiot to be mindful of you, not to go out and buy the most expensive thing out there! If he thinks that he can just buy you stuff and then go some more days treating you like a second option, he's even more stupid than I thought._"

Is what he said. I don't think that's the case though. Naruto-kun wants to make all of his friends as happy as they can be. Of course he'd do the same for me – we're friends after all. I didn't think it would be this extreme though, I have to admit. I feel a little bad now, since I never really got him a birthday present. I wonder if I should return the favor and get him a present too. But I wouldn't really know what to get him.

Actually, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I've been making chocolates and cookies for everyone. I made Naruto-kun's extra special, just because I thought about confessing tomorrow. But now I'm debating if I really want to do that. I mean, we're such good friends now! We even hung out a few more times over winter break and over the weekends in January. I don't want to ruin that by confessing my feelings for him. Ino thinks I should do it after school tomorrow, but I'm really scared.

What if Naruto-kun rejects me? Or worse – what if he finds that being friends after my confession is too weird and he doesn't want to do that anymore? I'd be crushed. Oh, I'm such a coward. Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe he'll just politely decline and ask for us to strictly be friends. I think that if it happened like that, I'd be okay.

I just don't want to lose Naruto-kun's friendship.

I mean, we've come so far from me not being able to look him in the eye or even being close to him without hyperventilating. Now, we joke around and we laugh together and we tell each other stories. I don't even get too nervous when he gets really close to me. I would hate to have all of that go away just because I went and made things awkward.

Hopefully I'll think of something tomorrow.

* * *

"For me?" Shikamaru asked. Although his tone was as monotone as usual, Hinata saw that his eyes had widened slightly at the sight of the transparent plastic bag with the pink ribbon tied around it. It held some of the little chocolates and cookies Hinata spent all night baking. She slipped it in his hand and he inspected the treats further.

"Yes!" She smiled. "To thank you for being such a wonderful friend." Shikamaru smiled, and Hinata's smile grew wider upon seeing his. He tried to frown, but it wasn't working at all.

"And just what are you smiling at?"

"You. It's so nice to see a genuine smile on your face for a change." She giggled, before skipping off to see Ino at the front door.

"Troublesome girl." He laughed.

"Ino! Happy Valentine's Day!" Hinata cried cheerily before handing her a bag similar to what she gave Shikamaru.

"Ah! Same to you Hinata! Aww, did you bake these?" Ino smiled, accepting the little bag of sweets while Hinata nodded. Ino reached into her schoolbag and pulled out a chocolate bar with a cute, pink little bow wrapped around it. "It probably pales in comparison to yours since it's store brought, but it's imported from France so it must be really good!"

"Ah, I can't wait to eat it! Thank you Ino!" The two of them walked towards Ino's desk. She sat in her seat while Hinata sat on top of the desk, kicking her feet. She was in such a great mood today. Everyone seemed to be in such high spirits, and Hinata could see pink boxes and plastic sticking out of some of her classmate's desks. How cute!

"So, do you have chocolate for a special someone?" Ino giggled. Hinata blushed and looked away from her.

"I could ask the same of you." Ino was about to question what exactly she was talking about but realized that Hinata was looking at the door in the front of the classroom where Sai, Naruto and Sakura had entered.

"Oh, you're rude." Ino muttered. "I think we've been hanging out way too much."

"Probably." She laughed. "Well, are you going to give it to him?" Hinata questioned.

"Give what to who?" Naruto asked, taking his seat next to Ino. Sakura took her assigned seat at the desk in front of Ino's.

"What'd I say about getting into people's business?" Sakura asked calmly.

Naruto frowned. "I was just asking."

"Well quit asking!" Ino cried, obviously flustered. The two engaged in a little squabble after that. Just then, Hinata remembered something. She got off of Ino's desk quietly and made her over to Sai, placing her homemade chocolates and cookies on his desk.

"Here Sai, these are for you. Thank you for being a nice friend." She smiled.

"Ah, I got Valentine's chocolates from Miyuki!" he cried.

"I know you modeled her after me, but I'm not the heroine in your comic, so please just call me by my name…" Hinata frowned.

Ino sighed. "Isn't it always easy? Giving them to boys that you don't like?" she mumbled under her breath.

Naruto was watching them too, but with somewhat of an annoyed look on his face. He wanted to have some chocolates too. He got some from Sakura as they walked to school together and it made him really happy (though he prayed that they were store-bought and not homemade) but Hinata's cooking was always really good. Her cake she made over Christmas was to die for! He wanted another chance to taste all the great stuff that she made.

Besides, if she was giving them out to friends, he should have been getting one too!

…Hopefully.

(^o^)

All throughout class, Naruto's eyes would shift from Hinata to the chocolates that Sai had sitting proudly on his desk and to the ones that were peeking out of Shikamaru's schoolbag. Needless to say, this Valentine's chocolate problem was eating him up instead of the other way around. It shouldn't have been though.

Naruto had faith in Hinata that she'd give him some. She had to! They were friends after all, weren't they? He and Hinata had spent time hanging out together since the Christmas party. They hung out at the mall again and they even went to play at the arcade. He would have also liked to add that they were alone when those things happened.

So why didn't she give him any?

She walked right past him to give her chocolate to Sai. Granted, it had his name on it and she was holding it in her hand, but still! He wanted one too.

"Uzumaki-san!" His teacher called out to him.

"Y-yes sir!"

"Since you want to stare off into space during my lecture, and especially _before_ my exam might I add, you can do so in the hallway."

"Ehh?" Naruto whined before standing up.

"Maybe if you weren't sneaking peaks at Hyuga-san, you'd be able to stay~." Ino murmured, loud enough so that only Naruto could hear her.

"What'd you say!?" He cried. Ino gave a light laugh.

"Uzumaki! Outside! Now!"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto muttered, begrudgingly leaving the classroom.

Hinata watched him leave the classroom before looking over to his now empty chair. At that moment, Ino caught her eye. The blonde sent her a quick wink before returning to the lecture. Hinata did the same.

What was that all about?

(^o^)

"Oh, Hinata's not having lunch with you? Don't tell me she hates you?" Naruto said smugly. He and Kiba were in the cafeteria, since neither of them had brought lunch boxes that day. Naruto was having udon since they were all out of ramen for today, and Kiba had some soup.

"Oh please. Shino's in the library studying for an exam, so she thought she'd go give him the Valentine's chocolates she made for him." He said nonchalantly.

Again with the Valentine's chocolates, huh?

"Oi, Kiba. Did you get any from her?" Naruto asked.

The shaggy haired teen held up the transparent plastic bag with the pink ribbon on it that all of their friends seemed to have except for him. "Of course. Hinata gives me Valentines chocolates every year, you should know this. You always complain I never share them with you." Hinata had given chocolates and cookies to him and Neji while the three of them walked to school together. "Don't tell me you didn't get any."

When he was silent, Kiba mimicked the same smugness Naruto donned earlier. "_Oh_! Hinata didn't get you any chocolates? Don't tell me she hates you?"

"She does not!" Naruto cried. A few moments later, he slouched his shoulders. "At least… I hope not."

"Oi, you're supposed to say that kinda stuff with confidence. How am I supposed to believe you otherwise?"

Naruto sighed. "And here I thought things were going fine between us."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like you two are dating… You're not, right?"

"No, we're not." Naruto said, waving off the notion. "Sides, Hinata doesn't even see me like that anyway."

Kiba wanted to say something so badly, but thought against it. "Well… If you're not, then why do you care so much about her chocolates? Weren't you bragging to me about how Sakura gave you some this morning?"

"Yeah, but that's a totally different thing." The blond said. "Sakura-chan giving one to me means that she might like me. Hinata's giving them out to all of her friends. But we're friends and I haven't gotten one yet!"

"Ino didn't give you any chocolates either."

Silence.

"But, that's a totally different thing, y'know!?" Naruto cried.

"Sure, sure," Kiba snickered, "whatever you say."

(^o^)

Her heart was pounding fast, and her legs felt like they'd give out on her at any moment. Hinata and Ino promised each other that they'd confess after school with the Valentine's chocolates that they had. Hinata was currently waiting at Naruto's shoe locker for him. What if he had friends with him? What if Sakura was with him? She couldn't confess then! It was embarrassing enough just telling Naruto how she felt! She was starting to chicken out. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Just as she turned to leave, the boy she had been waiting on had finally shown up and he was alone. _Of course he'd show up right as I decide I can't do it!_ He looked her up and down before noticing the heart-shaped box in her hands. Another chocolate? Naruto thought that whoever the person was, they sure were lucky.

"What're you still doing here, Hinata?"

"I… Um…" She started. "W-well…"

Come on Hinata, you can do it.

You can do it!

_You can do it!_

"Th-these are for you!" She cried, bowing as her arms stretched out to hand them to him. "Th-thank you… for being such a… wonderful friend…"

Friend.

**Friend.**

She said he was a friend! How could she screw up like that!? She had planned everything out in her head! And then all of that just went out of the window as her mouth just spoke out on its own. She _swore _that her lips were traitors. They had to be! The blush on her face ran to her ears. It was so silent for a while. At that moment, she thought that maybe he wasn't okay with this, and she successfully fought hard to blink back the oncoming tears.

Naruto stood in shock for a moment before taking the box out of her hand. "Y'know, I was actually a little sad that I didn't get any from you earlier," Hinata slowly looked up at him, stunned by his words. "I was actually thinking about it all day in class and stuff."

"R-really? I'm so sorry…" So _that_ was what happened. If only Hinata could have asked Ino about it over lunch, but she spent her lunch with Shino in the library.

"It's fine. It was kinda silly of me to think that you wouldn't give me one. Now that I know I got a really special one from you, I'm really happy. Thanks Hinata!"

"You're… You're welcome." She smiled, finally.

* * *

Ahh! I couldn't do it! They ended up being friendship chocolates in the end! I tried so hard to tell him that I liked him, I really did! It was on the tip of my tongue and everything! ...It's funny actually, because Ino told me that she ended up giving her chocolates to Sai as friendship chocolates too. I guess we both failed.

Still, Naruto-kun was really happy, and he walked me home too – taking bites of the chocolate on our way there. He really loved it, so I guess it wasn't a total failure.

You know who didn't fail though? Temari-senpai!

Over the summer, when Shikamaru-kun had something important to tell me, it was about her. He wanted to confess to her before she graduated, but he didn't want to cause any trouble for her by doing that. I guess she would have passed on going to college and he didn't want that. He's a very admirable man, I have to say.

He had asked me what I thought he should do about it. I said that if he was up to it, he should tell her how he felt about her.

However, she confessed her love for him with chocolates today. She said that she did it because she didn't want to have any regrets when she graduated. I'm very proud of her. I don't think I have the courage to do something like that.

Shikamaru-kun accepted the chocolates, but is waiting to give his answer on White Day.

I actually can't wait to see what kind of present I get from Naruto-kun on White Day! I shouldn't be saying things like that. After all, he gave me such a beautiful present for my birthday. Still, I can hardly contain my excitement!

I wonder what Shikamaru-kun is going to buy for Temari-senpai.

Ahh, love is such a great thing, isn't it?

* * *

"Eh? Shopping for what?" Naruto groaned lazily. His head was currently on the desk, and he was absolutely drained from today's lessons. Kiba, Sai and Shikamaru sat around his desk while Neji stayed behind to clean the classroom. Everyone else had gone to their clubs or went home, so it was just the five of them in inside of the classroom.

"For White Day, stupid." Kiba frowned. "It's coming up in a few days, you know."

"Why do I need to go shopping for White Day?" The blonde frowned.

"Sakura'll kill you if you don't return the favor and get her a present." Sai said. Naruto's eyes widened. The thought of her breaking into his home and ready to strangle him played in his mind over and over again.

"You don't need to be worried about Sakura." Neji spoke, and all eyes were now on him.

"I don't?" Naruto asked.

"No." Neji said calmly. "If you don't get Hinata a White Day present, **I'll destroy you before Haruno even gets the chance.**"

All eyes were back onto Naruto as he became as white as porcelain.

"That's right! You wouldn't shut up about the chocolate she gave you for Valentine's Day!" Kiba cried, raising his fist in the air.

"You better not make her cry, Naruto. If Neji sees one tear roll down her cheek, you're dead." Shikamaru laughed.

Naruto didn't know what was worse, seeing Hinata cry or having Neji completely obliterate him. To be truthful, he had experienced both of those things, and he couldn't handle the way both of them made him feel.

"A-alright…" Naruto said finally, a nervous smile etched onto his face. "When do we want to go shopping for the girls then?"

"What do you mean 'when'? You need to go this weekend! White Day is on Tuesday, you know!" Neji scolded.

Kiba nodded in agreement. "I can't believe you haven't gotten any presents yet."

"Did _you_ buy any presents, Kiba? You were the one who said we needed to go!" The blond argued.

He smirked. "Of course I did. Shino and I went to the mall to get Hinata's presents last week."

"I got mine for her just the other day." Shikamaru said.

"Me too." Sai nodded.

Naruto blinked. "Then why do you guys need to go?"

"We need to go to make sure you don't screw up." They said in unison.

"…I see." Naruto frowned.

(^o^)

As soon as they entered the mall, the five boys split up. Sai needed Shikamaru's help on finding a good gift for Ino while Kiba and Neji supervised Naruto to make sure he didn't buy anything weird. The two of them followed Naruto up and down several floors, growing more tired and annoyed each time the blond muttered "no" or "that won't work".

"Look! There's a bakery. You can get Hinata Cinnamon rolls, those are her favorites." Kiba said.

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, it's too practical."

"You're being awfully picky for someone who just figured out that he needed to buy someone a White Day gift." Kiba scowled.

Naruto ignored him, walking off to a different shop as Neji and Kiba tagged along. Naruto finally made it to a store that sold charm bracelets. Almost everything was blue and white, in honor of White day, he supposed. Then something stood out to him. A small bracelet with a few charms on it, and it was pink – Sakura's favorite color. He checked the price. Not too expensive either. It was perfect.

"Hey, hey! Don't you think this is a cool present for Sakura-chan?"

Kiba rolled his eyes at first, but when he laid eyes on the bracelet, his expression had changed. "Oh, not bad. You're not as terrible as I thought."

Naruto gave a haughty chuckle. "Of course. My dad's pretty good at this stuff so I inherited it from him!"

"Okay now. If you're quite finished you should pay for it so you can get Hinata's present. I really don't want to be here longer than I need to be." Neji frowned, taking his usual "I'm annoyed" stance with his eyes closed and arm folded, gripping onto the sleeve of his shirt.

"Alright, alright! Don't get you're panties in a twist Neji, sheesh!" Naruto grumbled, walking up to the register.

At his remark, Neji became flustered. "P-panties?"

Kiba snickered, jabbing Neji in his side with his elbow. "C'mon man, don't let Naruto get to ya!"

After Naruto finished paying for Sakura's present, they went in search of a present for Hinata. It had taken them forever to find a store that Naruto seemed to like. When he did find one, he had his hands and face pressed up against the glass, admiring something. Neji and Kiba both raised their eyebrows in question before joining him.

"Whatcha looking at?" Kiba asked.

"Those." Naruto pointed at a pair of small pearl earrings in which a smaller pearl dangled from the bigger one. "They're pretty right?"

Neji and Kiba stared wide-eyed at the blond in front of them. He wanted to get Hinata pearl earrings?

"Um, yes they are," Neji started, "but why those?"

Naruto pulled his face from the glass to look at Neji. "Cuz they match the necklace I got her."

"You got her a pearl necklace!?" Kiba exclaimed. Naruto simply nodded. "When!?"

"For her birthday last year." Kiba's look of shock never left his face but Neji only nodded.

"Ah, so that's what she was wearing the other day." Neji explained that Hiashi threw a formal party at the estate, and Hinata wore that necklace with one of her new dresses. He saw her absentmindedly touch it a few times too.

"Ehehehe…" Naruto laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "So she wore it? That's nice to know."

"If you're going to buy it, you should do so now." Neji said. Naruto and the rest went in to buy the earrings. When Naruto found out the price for those earrings, he froze. Neji sighed. "I'll spot you if you want." At his words, Naruto was brought back to reality.

"Me too," Kiba chimed in. "Don't get me wrong though. This is for Hinata, not for you."

"Agreed."

Naruto looked at the two of them about to dig into their wallets but stopped them. "No. If you two did that, then it wouldn't be my present to Hinata. You two already brought your presents. I can pay for it."

(^o^)

"Ahh, Gama-chan is so empty." Naruto sighed, swaying back and forth as he walked in between Kiba and Neji. It was necessary though. Getting those earrings for Hinata was important to him. Now, she'd certainly be happy on White Day _and_ Neji wouldn't murder him. It was a win-win situation!

"Can I ask you a question, Naruto?" Neji asked, breaking his thoughts. Naruto nodded. "What exactly are you to Hinata?"

"Whadaya mean?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side.

Neji cleared his throat lightly before speaking again. "Well, you got her a necklace for her birthday, and you spent all your money for these earrings for her. Are you two an item?" Kiba perked up, interested in his answer.

"Nah, we're just friends." Naruto grinned.

"Naruto, 'just friends' don't go out of their way to do the kind of stuff that you do. Do you _like_ Hinata or something?"

Naruto stopped for a moment. Like Hinata? "I dunno, I never thought about it." He said nonchalantly, causing Kiba and Neji to slap their foreheads in annoyance. It was true though. Naruto never thought about her in that light before. When he was younger, he thought that she was a little strange, with those white eyes he'd never seen before. In middle school, he thought that she was a really jumpy person, always afraid of the smallest thing that touched her. He also thought she hated him, since she never wanted to be near him.

Now, he thought that she was one of the best friends he could have ever had. But he never thought about _liking _her. She was a dependable person, really kind, was good at sewing and knitting and cooking. She was also kind of pretty, he supposed. Oh yeah, and she also had large assets. Was he supposed to like her or something? Naruto thought that he was just being a good friend until Neji said something about it.

He didn't have time to dwell on it any further when Shikamaru had called out to them.

"Sai finally got Ino her White Day present." He said, as he made his way to the rest of the group.

"Ah, what'd you get her?" Kiba asked, and Sai pulled out a very beautiful, white lace lingerie. The boys were absolutely stunned.

"Why would you buy something like that?" Neji asked.

"The woman at the store told me that Ino would absolutely love it."

Kiba grimaced at Shikamaru. "And you didn't stop him?"

The prodigy shrugged. "I told him it wasn't a good idea once. Wasn't gonna fight him on it."

"Sai… You're really bold…" Naruto managed to say.

* * *

Again, Naruto-kun always manages to blow me away. This time, I got earrings to go with my necklace. He insisted that I try them on at school, but we aren't allowed to wear them at school so I promised I'd send a picture through text message. I kept my promise, and now Naruto-kun has a picture of me in his phone.

Ah, it's so strange to think about, but it makes me a little happy.

Though, I should probably tell him to stop buying gifts like this. If he keeps this up, father will think that I have a boyfriend, and then I'll get scolded for not properly introducing him to the family and all of that.

Also, Sai gave Ino sexy underwear for White Day. I asked her if she was sure that she only gave chocolates to Sai as a friend and she said,

"_Yeah I did! I don't know what his problem is, sending me perverted stuff like this! He's got some nerve!_"

And then she gave him a good punch on the head. Even though she said that, she still accepted the present. I wonder if she actually wears it. I'll have to ask her about it when we hang out together during spring break.

Oh yeah!

Graduation happened yesterday. That means that Temari-Senpai's high school career is over now. Shikamaru-kun gave her an answer on White Day. He told her to study hard at school. At first, she was really upset about it, but then he told her that he couldn't give her the answer she wanted because it would only hold her back. So, I think that when we graduate, Shikamaru-kun will finally give her the answer they _both_ wanted to hear.

I'm so happy for those two.

I wish I could have a drastic turn of events in my non-existent love life. However that doesn't seem like the case for me.

Ah, but I should forget about that for now. I'm going to be a senior soon. How exciting is that? I sit here, and look at all these photos taken from last year – Ino and I having lunch together, all of us playing on the beach, Shikamaru-kun and myself sunbathing... There are pictures of me and Sai at the culture festival as well as Naruto-kun and I on Christmas... Then there are a bunch of photos with Kiba-kun, Shino-kun and I.

I look back at all of them, and I think about how far I've already come as a person in just a year. Sure, I've had a few rough patches here and there, but I like the person I'm becoming. I'm happier, I'm a little more sociable, and I was able to make wonderful friends who care about me.

For the first time in a very long time, I can finally say that I love myself.

And being able to say that about myself means the world to me.

* * *

And that's all for junior year! It actually quite hard to write groups of people, so I really struggled with this chapter a lot. If anyone has tips to give, it would be very much appreciated! As promised, the next chapters will be going by month, so look out for chapter 5; April!

See you in the next one!


	5. April

I'm back! And I have an announcement to make. As you know, the story title changed! In all honesty, I was so eager to put it up when I first wrote it that I used the first thing that came to mind. But now that I had time to think about the title (while I'm sane and not sleep deprived) and what the ending of the story was going to be like, I thought this new title was fitting.

So, without further ado, here it is!

* * *

**APRIL:** It's been a While, Hasn't it?

* * *

"Ah! Aburame, Shino! I found your name, Shino-kun!" Hinata cried, bringing Shino in for a hug.

"Hah, so that means we'll be in the same class from now on, huh?" Kiba laughed, putting a shoulder around his very tall friend. It was the first day of school, and the three of them had checked to see if they would be in the same class this year, since there was no such luck last year. It turns out that God had heard Hinata's prayers over spring break and allowed them to be together for their last year of high school.

"I wasn't forgotten about this time." Shino smiled.

"Of course not!" Hinata laughed. Suddenly, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she let go of Shino to find out who was holding onto her. As the voice spoke, Hinata knew _exactly_ who it was.

"Hina-chan~! Looks like we're in the same class again!" Yamanaka Ino!

She was accompanied by Shikamaru and another boy who she had yet to acquaint herself. He had a wide smile, even though his uniform was sloppily draped over him and it looked like he was wearing this morning's breakfast. Shikamaru donned a small smirk, which was unusual for him so early in the morning. He would usually yawn and complain that getting up so early was too troublesome. Still, Hinata was immensely happy that some of her other friends were in her class too.

"Ino!" Hinata cried, returning the hug. "I'm so glad we're together again! And Shikamaru-kun is with us too, right?"

The prodigy nodded. Released from Ino's hug, Hinata's eyes shifted to the boy next to Shikamaru. Realizing that Hinata was curious, Shikamaru placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "This is Akimichi Choji. We're childhood friends."

"Sure are!" Choji laughed.

Hinata gave a small bow. "It's nice to meet you." She was sure she'd seen him around school a few times, especially around Shikamaru, but Hinata never had a chance to speak to him.

"It's been a while since we hung out, Choji!" Kiba said. "How come you never showed up to hang with us at Ino's summer home last year?"

Choji puffed his cheeks out. "Hey! I told Ino I had business to take care of!"

"As I've asked a million times before, _what_ business?" The blonde asked.

"That's none of _your_ business!"

As they all bickered, Hinata took another look at the class arrangements. She hadn't checked to see if Naruto would be in her class. Her eyes scanned a list of names; Haruno Sakura, Hyuga Neji… Sai's name was there too, as well as Lee and Tenten's. When she got to the "U" section, her eyes widened in shock. Yes, Uzumaki Naruto was there, but her eyes were glued to another name.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She spoke.

Everyone around her went silent for a moment. They all exchanged looks of surprise and disbelief. Uchiha Sasuke returned to the school? Why? It was said that his family moved to a different city for reasons unknown. Since those reasons weren't made public, you know that whatever the reason was, it couldn't be good! Could there have been a scandal involving the prestigious family? Or maybe their past caught up with them and they had to move back?

No, they could hardly believe their ears.

"Uh, what was that, Hinata?" Ino asked. Hinata pointed to one of the last names on their class list.

"Uchiha Sasuke is in our class." She said, with a firmer tone of voice.

**-x-**

The atmosphere in the room was quite different. It had an almost eerie feeling to it. The lessons were ongoing, but no one paid any attention to them. All eyes were on Sasuke, who had his elbows on his desk and his fingers intertwined with each other, causing his hands to cover his lips. He wasn't even taking notes! His gaze has was cold, and he seemed so aloof. To make matters worse, Hinata just so happened to be sitting next to him. How was she going to survive the school year?

Her eyes left Sasuke for a moment, and she focused on Ino, who was sitting ways away from her right front and center of the classroom. Every time the teacher would turn his back, she would take a quick look behind her. Hinata noticed that Ino's eyes narrowed ever so slightly when she turned to look at Sasuke. She seemed to be on edge about him.

Sakura sat a few seats to Sasuke's right. She didn't even try to hide the fact that she was staring at him. Hinata squinted her eyes slightly to read her. She seemed to be lost in thought, and almost… Confused? It certainly did look that way. But what could she have been confused about?

She didn't have time to dwell on it, since she saw Naruto through her peripheral sight. She turned her head slightly to look at him – and she thought Sakura was being too obvious. Naruto sat directly behind Sakura, his elbow was on his desk as his hand propped up his face. He was… glaring? Well yes, but it also looked like he was thinking about something.

Deciding that she had been looking for too long, Hinata returned to her notes. She copied notes for about five minutes or so when she felt eyes on her. When she turned to look, she was met with Sasuke's steely gaze. You would think that because she was always with Neji that she's be used to cold looks, but her cousin had nothing on Sasuke. He was downright scary! She wouldn't let him shake her resolve – she couldn't allow it! Finding the courage, she shot him a small smile. Sasuke stared at her for another minute or so before looking towards the front of the classroom. Hinata did the same.

What was that for?

**-x-**

It was lunch time, and Hinata had to say, she was feeling a bit annoyed. Swarms of people were next to her, but not to talk to her. No, they were there to talk to _Sasuke_. One of them even bumped her arm, almost making her drop her lunch! She wanted to go have lunch elsewhere with Kiba and Shino, but with the number of people crowding her, she couldn't see them, and she was positive they couldn't see her.

"Welcome back, Sasuke!" One student cried.

"Yeah! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Said another.

"How come you decided to come back?"

Sasuke's gaze hardened. "Go away."

And just like that, the flock of students surrounding him either left the classroom or went to their desks to eat lunch with friends. Now that it was clear, Hinata was positive that Kiba and Shino left. She didn't blame them. She would have also left if she could. There were still some people by Sasuke's desk though – Sakura, Naruto and Ino. Ino sawHinata looking and smiled.

"Ah, Hinata! I didn't see you there!" She was acting really chipper, as usual. However Hinata saw her nose crinkle a tiny bit when she said this. Ino _did_ see her. She was just using her presence to lighten the mood a bit. If only Hinata wasn't so awkward, she could have helped Ino do that since everyone was so tense, but her stutter ruined it.

"Y-yeah…"

"Sasuke, did you bring any lunch today?" Sakura asked. It took him a moment to answer before the dark eyed teen gave a simple "no" as his answer. "Well, if you're hungry, I can share with you."

"Typical Forehead." Ino teased, a sly smirk playing on her lips.

"Shut up Ino-pig!" Sakura cried, raising her fist in anger. Ino only laughed through Sakura's mini rage fit.

"Hyuga, isn't it?" Sasuke asked. This surprised everyone. Hinata watched as Naruto's eyes focused on her for a moment before slowly wandering to Sasuke, narrowing them as he did.

"Um, y-yes…?" Hinata stuttered, mentally kicking herself. She was _sure_ she had improved on it!

"You were the only person who took notes today. I need a copy."

Hinata sat there, wide-eyed for a moment for a moment, as was everyone else. After coming over her shock, she nodded, getting up to go to the copying room. To her surprise, Naruto followed her.

"Oh, Naruto-kun." She smiled. It was nice to see him with a smile on his face. He had only been glaring this entire school day. It made her feel a little at ease.

"Hey. Nice to see that we're in the same class again right?" Hinata nodded. "Hey, don't let that bastard get to you, alright?" He must have been talking about Sasuke. It was nice that he was trying to look out for her.

"Oh, okay. Um, did anything happen between you all? It feels tense." She watched Naruto's expression. It was serious. His lips had parted, but he didn't say anything for a few moments.

"I dunno. He suddenly reappears right back into the school with no warning – he didn't even tell me or Sakura-chan that he moved back. You'd think after being friends for so long, he'd have the decency to say somethin'." He paused for a moment before continuing. "And then of course when he gets here, he says nothing to us. That guy really is annoying."

Hinata didn't know that Sasuke and Naruto were close friends. They didn't seem like it by the way they argued and everything. Though, Sakura and Ino argued all the time, and they were best friends. Besides, before last year, Hinata only paid attention to what happened inside of the classroom. She didn't know whether or not they hung out outside of school. From how Naruto was acting, it was apparent that they did. Naruto always got worked up over friends – she should know.

After they had gone to the copy room to make Sasuke's copy of notes, the two of them returned to the classroom, and were having a pleasant conversation about television shows. Sakura and Ino were sitting at Sasuke's desk, but it didn't seem that they had any luck getting him to talk. The blonde had just finished her lunch and was now putting it away while Sakura was desperately trying to get Sasuke to eat something.

Hinata scooted herself in between her desk and Sasuke's as she handed him her photocopied notes. "Here they are." She said with a smile. Sasuke didn't say a word. He just took them out of her hand and placed them into his schoolbag. Her smile fell into a frown. "Excuse me, Uchiha-san." She started. Sasuke looked over at her, as did everyone else.

"That's very rude. You didn't take any notes today, and you had me go to the copying room so that you'd have them in your possession, but you didn't utter a small thanks or anything." Everyone besides Sasuke looked at Hinata in shock. Hinata didn't care. She had enough of today, with everyone bumping into her to see him, and with him commanding her to do things. Naruto was right; this guy _was_ annoying!

It was silent for a moment, but Hinata's firm look did not falter. Sasuke finally closed his eyes.

"Thank you." He murmured.

What?

Did he seriously just thank her? Sure, Hinata was annoyed and wanted an expression of appreciation, but she wasn't expecting him to actually say it! It seemed as though everyone was just as shocked as her.

No one had time to process it, because the bell signaling that class was about to begin rang out, and everyone rushed to their seats. In the middle of class, Hinata could hear a small gurgling sound next to her. She looked over to her right.

Sasuke was cringing.

Hah! His stomach was rumbling since he didn't have anything to eat today! Hinata's cheeks puffed out, and she snickered to herself. He glared at her, but the gurgling sound happened again and he blushed.

"_Pfft…_" Maybe Uchiha-san wasn't as big and bad as she thought.

* * *

"That looks really good! What is that!?" Choji cried, pointing to Hinata's lunchbox with his chopsticks. Shikamaru and Choji invited her to sit on the roof with them to have lunch today. She had never set foot on the roof, and was a little nervous, but Shikamaru has eased her nerves, saying that they'd catch her if she fell off. It wasn't reassuring, but it made her laugh enough to forget that she was even nervous in the first place.

"Oh, this is an omelet. Would you like one?" She asked, a warm smile gracing her lips. Choji nodded his head with vigor before swiping one with his chopsticks. After shoving the whole omelet into his mouth, it seemed that stars lit up in Choji's eyes.

"This is amazing! Did you make it?" He asked. The dark haired teen nodded. "Woah! That's amazing! Oi, Shikamaru! Looks like I've just found my new best friend!" Choji teased.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Shikamaru said lazily, his eyes never losing focus from the sky. He hardly even touched his lunch.

"Do you both come up here often?" Hinata asked.

"Yup! We cloud watch together and share snacks." Choji grinned, opening up a bag of chips. "Want some?" Hinata declined respectfully and the chubby teen shrugged, rummaging in the bag for a handful of chips. If they did this together most days, then Hinata thought that she shouldn't intrude on them often. A bond between friends was something very sacred, and nothing should come between it.

"So, I heard you told Sasuke off the other day." Shikamaru said. Hinata's eyes widened. She never told him off – she just calmly said that he was quite rude.

"Who said that?" Hinata asked.

"Ino." Of course. Why did Hinata even bother asking? "In those exact words too. So, what happened?" Hinata looked down at Shikamaru, who was laying down between her and Choji. His eyes were focused on her now.

Hinata shook her head lightly. "I never 'told him off'. I only told him that he was rude and that he should say thank you when he's supposed to…"

Choji gave a small snort. "Sounds like telling him off to me. I heard his brother punched a guy right in the face for correcting his behavior when he went to this school."

Hinata froze. She had heard all types of crazy rumors and stories about Sasuke's brother, but that didn't mean that they were true. And if they were, it didn't mean that his behavior ran in the family… _right_? "Don't scare Hinata like that." Shikamaru spoke. "Besides, everyone knows that those stories aren't even true."

Well, at least she could always count on Shikamaru to make logical arguments that made her feel better.

**-x-**

"Hi-na-ta!" Naruto cried in a singsong voice. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and placed his head on top of her shoulder. A blush made its way onto her face. "Let's walk home together today!"

"Not so fast Naruto!" Kiba yelled, pointing a finger at the two of them from the front of the classroom. "Hinata's walking home with us today! Right, Shino?"

Shino gave a small nod in response. The blond only puffed up his cheeks. "I'm walking with Hinata today!"

"I'll make sure you won't walk for the rest of your life if you don't take your hands off of Hinata this instant, Uzumaki!" Neji threatened, and Naruto quickly let go of Hinata. She could finally breathe again.

"Oh come on Neji, don't be such a stick in the mud." Tenten laughed. "Hinata's a big girl; she can handle herself. Right, Hinata?" She winked. Hinata gave a small smile.

"Um, well… Actually, I wanted to submit my club member application to the office first." She said, holding up the white sheet of paper. Naruto took hold of it, inspecting it closely. "But, after that, we can all walk together, if you all want to."

"Eh… Hinata's going to be in the art club? That's really amazing! You'll make all kinds of cool things there, huh?"

Hinata gave him a coy smile. "Then we'll wait for you at the lockers, Hinata!" Kiba called to her as he left their classroom, Shino tagging along. Naruto decided that he would walk with Hinata to the office first, saying that he didn't want to deal with Kiba's mouth. Neji had said that Naruto was one to talk.

Takes all kinds to make a world, she supposed.

When her application was finally submitted, she and Naruto walked to her shoe locker, which annoyed Kiba slightly. "Sheesh, can't you leave her alone for _one_ second?"

Naruto slipped an arm around Kiba's shoulder, giving him a smug grin. "Aww, are you _jealouuuuuus_?"

The shaggy haired teen slapped Naruto's hand away. "Tch, as if! Who'd be jealous of _you_?" Shino and Hinata exchanged looks before catching up to Kiba and Naruto, who had already started walking. They were doing most of the talking and arguing as Hinata and Shino listened quietly, putting their input here and there when needed.

"So, how come you're not walking with Sasuke and Sakura? Tired of being the third wheel?" Kiba teased.

"Yeah right! Sasuke doesn't say anything to either of us when we walk together. It annoys the shit outta me, so I'm not gonna be bothered with him today." The blond said.

Hinata frowned. She didn't like to see him so upset about something. If Naruto and Sasuke were really friends, they should have been able to talk about things that were bothering them, right? Maybe Sasuke had to learn that the hard way, like Hinata did.

"Maybe Uchiha-san wants to be left alone for a while? He did just move back after all. I'm sure if you guys are close friends, then he'll talk to you when he's ready." Hinata always tried to look for the good in people, and to think of any possible scenario for why people acted the way they did. Hopefully, Sasuke had a good reason as to why he didn't want to talk to his friends.

"You're too nice, Hinata." Naruto said, with his arms behind his head. "Sasuke's always been an asshole. He's just being more of one now than ever before."

"You should know that Hinata. Didn't you call him out for being one the other day?" Kiba asked. Hinata sighed deeply. Why did everyone have different versions of that story?

"No, it wasn't like that! I just told him that he should say 'thank you' when people go out of their way to do things for him. I was just reminding him about common courtesy."

Shino hummed in thought for a moment. "You had to reteach him common courtesy? So you schooled him?"

Naruto gave a good, hearty laugh at Shino's comment while Hinata cried out in exasperation. "No! All I did was tell him that not saying thank you is rude! That's all!" Hinata expected this from Kiba, but not from Shino too.

"But y'know, he did actually say it in the end. I was surprised… Maybe you should go talk to Sasuke." Hinata gasped. "Relax, I'm kidding. I'd never send you to go talk to that jerk."

That was a relief. Hinata knew she couldn't really deny Naruto, especially if he asked her to help him mend a friendship. She just didn't want to talk to Sasuke more than she needed to.

**-x-**

"I need to borrow your notes from yesterday." Sasuke said in his normal cool tone.

"Again?" Hinata frowned. This was the fifth time this week. Did he not take notes, ever? This was weird. From what Hinata remembered, Sasuke was a good student, and prided himself on his grades and how they blew Naruto's out of the water. Now, he just sat in class, doing absolutely nothing. "Um, Uchiha-san?"

"Hn."

"Is everything alright?" Hinata asked quietly. Sasuke didn't answer, so Hinata continued. "You never take notes in class, and all of this material is going to be on the midterm exam next month. Are you okay?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment. "And what good would that knowledge do you?"

"It wouldn't do me any good." Hinata answered. "But it will help put all the people who worry about you at ease." Sasuke didn't speak, and Hinata shifted her gaze from him to pull out her notebook from her schoolbag. "Here," she said, handing it to him, "You can make a copy in the copy room during lunch."

"I can't concentrate." He said, finally.

"Huh?"

"I can't concentrate in class. I've got a lot on my plate."

**-x-**

"That's what he said to you!?" Ino cried. She and Hinata were having lunch in their classroom today. They were actually the only people in there, so it was a perfect chance to talk about what happened this morning before homeroom.

"Yes… I didn't pry though. I didn't want to get into his business, you know?" Hinata said. "Maybe something bad happened to him while he was away? Who knows…"

Ino took a sip of her juice box, closing her eyes in thought. "Hmm, probably." Suddenly, one of her eyes fluttered open. "Also, Forehead's pretty jealous of you~!" Sakura? Jealous of her? But why? As if Ino read her mind, she continued. "You've been sharing notes with Sasuke a lot lately. Forehead's been doing her best to produce crazy good notes so that she can hand them to him."

Hinata didn't think it was that big of a deal, but then she remembered that Sakura likes Sasuke, so of course she'd want to do anything to help him. "She can share notes with him if she wants to. It's been troublesome the past week – ah!" Hinata brought her hands up to her mouth. "Y-you didn't hear me say that!"

Ino gave a light laugh. "Yeah, _sure_ I didn't. Anyway, maybe we should just let him cool off for now. There's obviously something bothering him. If we get into it, he'll just get angry."

The dark haired teen sighed. "Naruto-kun won't take that for an answer… He hates being ignored, and he always wants to help as much as he can… I'm almost afraid to tell him what Uchiha-san told me. I don't want him to start prying."

"I say, let's keep it between us for now. If Sakura and Naruto find out about it, they'll start questioning him obsessively, and who _knows_ what'll happen then." Ino said.

Moments later, Sasuke had slid open the door to the classroom with Hinata's notebook in his hand. He walked over to her desk and handed it to her. "Thanks" was all he said to her before exiting the classroom.

"My, my, and you've even got him talking to you. Saying 'thank you' and everything. I wonder why he talks to you."

Hinata thought about it long and hard for a moment before the realization hit her like a truck. "The party!" She cried.

"Party?" Ino tilted her head to the side.

"In January, there was a party my father threw to commemorate a joint partnership in companies with Uchiha-san's. He was at the party, but I didn't talk to him or anything. His dad must have told him to be civil with me, since I'm the daughter of a man he's in good business with."

Ino was absolutely shocked. "Will there be any more parties? Maybe you should talk to Sasuke then."

"I don't know… We're not friends or anything like that. Besides, he's being nice… If you could call it that, only out of obligation."

"It couldn't hurt to try to become Sasuke's friend too." Ino said. Hinata didn't have time to respond when the school bell rung out, alerting everyone that class was about to begin. Become Sasuke's friend? Hinata wasn't so sure that she really wanted to. She had enough friends now. Besides, she didn't want to force a friendship. It would surely fall apart if that were the case. Things like that had to happen naturally.

Sasuke makes everything complicated.

* * *

"Wow… You're really good at this…" Hinata said, her voice laced with awe. She was currently in the art clubroom, watching Sai paint the porcelain figure in front of him. It was as if the painting was jumping out at her – it just looked so realistic. Hinata hadn't been doing any painting yet – she stuck to drawing objects in front of her. Sai had told her that she was surprisingly decent for someone who didn't draw on the regular. He told her that once she gotten better at drawing objects, they'd move on to drawing landscapes.

"Thank you." Sai smiled. "I've been doing stuff like this since I was a child. It's relaxing." Hinata never thought she'd see Sai so genuine before. For the first time since meeting him, he was like an open book. His muscles were relaxed and his posture wasn't stiff. Hinata could tell that in this moment, he was happy. She envied him a little, doing something he loved with joy – she wanted something like that in her life too. Well, that's why she joined the art club in the first place.

"Hey, Sai. Do you see yourself making a career out of your art?" She asked. The artist's brushstrokes seemed to be going in slow motion for a while before it came to a full stop. He turned to look at Hinata and gave her another smile – this time, it was sad.

"I've heard that question more times than I can count. One can only hope, right?" His answer was so vague and yet, she understood exactly what he meant. "Why do you ask?"

Hinata played with the hem of her apron for a moment. She should have known this question was coming up, but she never did prepare herself for it. "Well," she started, "I want to do something I enjoy in the future but I don't know what exactly that is. And, I know I'll be told to pick something more practical so… I was hoping that you could give me some advice…"

"I think you should go for it." He answered her quickly.

"R-really?"

Sai nodded. "Find something that makes you feel at ease. When you do, push forward with it. You'll be sorry if you wait forever." She was supposed to let go her inhibitions and her apprehension and just go with it? But what if things didn't work out the way she wanted it to? She'd certainly be branded as a failure by her family and that wouldn't make her feel good.

"Trust me." Sai spoke again, snapping her out of her thoughts. "If you fail at doing what you love, it's okay. That's the decision you made for yourself, right?"

At his words, a small smile formed on her lips. He was right. It was okay if it was her decision. And even if she failed, everything would be okay.

Her friends would always be right there to help her out in a pinch.

"Oi, Hinata! You ready to go home?" A gruff voice called to her. Her smile widened, and it didn't go unnoticed by Sai.

"Well, if you do that, you might regret it later…" Sai said, pointing at Naruto. Hinata's face reddened and she shook Sai by his shoulders lightly.

"Sheesh! Don't say stuff like that!" She cried as Sai laughed harder than she ever heard him. Naruto scowled.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but anything that comes outta your mouth can't be good, so cut it out!"

**-x-**

They seemed to be walking home more often now that Sasuke returned, and although Hinata should have been happy Naruto was spending time with her, she couldn't help but worry if he was only spending time with her for the wrong reasons. "Um, Naruto-kun?"

"Hm? What's up, Hinata?" He asked nonchalantly. She bit her lip for a moment, and Naruto had a feeling that whatever she was going to say wasn't going to be good news.

"Why is it that you spend a lot more time with me now?"

Well, it wasn't as serious as Naruto was expecting, that was for sure. "Cause I like spending time with you. You're fun to be around!" He laughed. It was genuine too. How silly of her – to think that he'd say that he was only hanging out with her because Sasuke and Sakura were always together now.

"I um… I like spending time with you too." Naruto grinned, slipping his arm around her shoulder.

"Then let's hang out more often. Over Christmas last year, I realized that I don't know that much about you, despite the fact that we're friends."

Hinata laughed lightly. "I could say the same for you too, Naruto-kun." She was right. Naruto hadn't really told her much about his family or about himself or anything like that. He supposed that she wanted to know about him as much as he wanted to know about her.

"Let's change that then!" On their walk home, Hinata told him about her family and how it was living in her household. She talked about her younger sister Hanabi (which came as no surprise to Naruto, Hinata seemed like the big sister type) and how playful she always was. She also brought up how kind Neji was, completely throwing him off. Hinata even mentioned how Neji took care of her hair which sent Naruto into a fit of laughter.

Then she got to talking about Kiba and how she met him at the park when she was a little girl. She was watching a group of school children play tag, but she was too shy to ask if she could play. While she watched, she couldn't take her eyes off Kiba – he was the fastest runner out of all those children. He was so fast that she didn't see him coming, and he ran right into her. Neither of them were badly hurt, but Kiba scolded her for being in the way and asked her why she wasn't playing. When she told him that she was too scared to play with the other children, he decided to sit out too, just to play with her.

They would always meet up in the park to hang out, and then he introduced her to Shino and that's where their friendship really took off. Naruto was in awe. She was always super shy, and was absolutely terrified of talking to other people. No wonder she only had those two as friends for so long. She also didn't attend the same elementary school as all of them. So that's why Kiba and Shino ran off right after school was over – they were going just to see Hinata. He'd have to tease Kiba about being such a softie later.

"What about you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto laughed. "I don't have such a sweet story like you do."

He explained to Hinata that he was an only child and that his parents were always off working so he didn't really have anyone to play with. When he got into elementary school, he and Sasuke hit it off very well and were really good friends – best friends even. Sure, Naruto would play with Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji, but those friendships weren't as close as the one he and Sasuke has. Even with such a strong friendship, the boys still argued. Still, Naruto mentioned that he always found Sasuke as the brother he never had.

And _that_ was why Naruto couldn't let Sasuke's avoidance go.

"I had no idea you two were so close…" Hinata mumbled. She felt bad keeping secrets about Sasuke from him. If anyone deserved to know, it should have been Sasuke's closest friend. Hinata would have been pretty upset if Naruto went around keeping secrets about Kiba or Shino. This didn't feel right at all.

"Yeah. I just wish I knew what was up with him, yknow?" He sighed.

"Um… Actually, I have something to tell you." And then everything she had told Ino last week left her mouth, much like word vomit. Once she started, she couldn't stop. She told Naruto about all the borrowing of her notes, the inability to concentrate in class as well as having a lot of thing to deal with. She also told him about the party – the one her father threw, and that she had seen him there looking as if he didn't want to be there.

"But I never spoke to him… I didn't think anything of it before, but I guess it's really important now…" She sighed.

Naruto was stunned. Hinata knew so much, and he couldn't get Sasuke to utter a simple "hello" to him. "Hinata," he started, "You have to talk to him again."

At that moment, Hinata was short of breath. "Naruto-kun. I know how much you want to figure out what's wrong with him… but, sometimes people just need space… to calm themselves. People need time alone. Maybe if you give him some time, he'll come around surely."

A small frown was etched onto his face, but Hinata did make a good point. Sasuke was never one to blurt out his feelings so easily. "Also, please don't let any of this get back to him…" Hinata said. "He'll never say anything to me again, and I can't relay the message back to you." So she _was_ willing to talk to him, but only if he initiated it. He had a hard time seeing that play out, but at least she was trying to help Naruto out.

"Thanks Hinata. I really appreciate it, y'know?"

The dark haired teen nodded. "Oh! Yes, of course."

**-x-**

"He's really worried about you…" Hinata said suddenly. She didn't know where it came from, or why the words left her mouth, but she said it. She was mentally kicking herself for it too. Sasuke's eyes never left the chalkboard. It was just the two of them in the classroom, and nothing was written on the board. Hinata had gotten to class early to try to talk to Naruto's stone cold friend just because she wanted to see Naruto happy.

But it was as if she was talking to a brick wall.

"So? Doesn't mean I'm going to tell him about my private affairs."

"I'm not asking you to do that!" Her voice became slightly higher than she wanted it to be, and it quivered slightly. "I just… I feel as though you should stop ignoring him. I mean, he's your friend isn't he? And he cares about you a great deal. Just… be civil with him."

He was almost glaring at her, and she didn't dare say another word for the rest of time that they were alone together. One by one it seemed, the rest of the students were piling in. Kiba and Shino greeted her, and stood around her desk for a while to have a nice chat. She was very grateful for it. It rubbed out the bad taste in her mouth she got after speaking with Sasuke.

The school bell had rung out and everyone found their way into their seats. About 15 minutes into class, Naruto strolled in, looking as if he were on the verge of death. Hinata wondered if he had gotten any sleep last night.

"S-sorry teach, I forgot to set my alarm last night…" He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"It's only the third week of school and you're late already? Grow up already."

Well, Hinata _did_ tell Sasuke to speak to Naruto, but she didn't think he'd do it this soon, or so rudely. Shaking his fists, Naruto cried,

"**You asshole! You've been back for less than a month and that's the first thing you say to me!? I'm gonna kill him!**"

"Oh no you won't!" Sakura screeched, staring menacingly at Naruto. Before Hinata knew it, the whole classroom was in an uproar. When she looked over at Sasuke, he was actually smirking.

Hinata was already tired of this year, and it had only just begun.

* * *

"Hinat-ahh! Wh-what happened to you?" Cried Ino. They were in their homeroom class and Hinata was standing in the doorway, absolutely soaked from today's rain. Hinata was usually in the classroom before Ino, so it was a little odd for the opposite to happen. No wonder though – the dark haired teen looked like she'd just come from a water park. "Didn't you bring an umbrella!?"

"Ino…" Hinata whined shakily before walking to her desk. Of course she had carried her umbrella, she was always good about that kind of stuff. Today, however, Hinata seemed to be a little clumsy. "I was walking… And I tripped… and I fell into a puddle… but I lied there for a moment out of embarrassment b-because… because everyone was **staring at me**!" She whined, sniffling. She thought that if she just played dead for a little bit, everyone would leave her alone.

"Ah… Your tights have a hole in them and everything. And your knee is a little scraped too."

"N-no way…" Hinata gasped, looking down at her legs. Ino was right! "What do I doooo…?"

Ino crossed her arms in thought. "I guess it can't be helped. I have a small towel I can use to help dry your hair. Come on, sit."

Hinata did as she was told, sniffling here and there. It was a terrible turn of events, but at least Ino was taking care of her. "We don't have gym so you can't change into your tracksuit either…" What was she going to do? She couldn't sit in wet clothes all day. She'd catch a cold for sure!

Neji and Tenten had entered the room, and stared at Hinata who buried her head into her arms on the desk – stopping Ino from completely drying her hair. "Don't look! It's embarrassing!" She cried.

"Hinata, you need to change out of those clothes." Neji said.

At this, Sai perked up. "Ah! I still have the magical girl costumes in the art clubroom if you need them."

Raising his fist in anger, Neji shot a glare at the pale artist. "She's _not_ wearing that! And why do you still have those here!? You were supposed to take them home after the culture festival last year!"

Neji scolded Sai for a while, and Tenten could only roll her eyes. "I always bring my tracksuit with me, so you can wear mine while we hang your clothes to dry. We should also fix your knee too." She smiled.

"Tenten," Hinata sniffled, "you're a lifesaver."

(^o^)

Tenten and Ino accompanied Hinata to the infirmary to fix her scrape and help dry her clothes. She was finally in the red tracksuit that all of the girls in their school wore, and one of the pants legs were rolled up so Tenten could finish disinfecting the cut on Hinata's knee.

"Ouch!" Hinata winced. "Disinfecting always hurts…"

Tenten gave a small laugh as Ino hung up Hinata's blue uniform skirt. "You make it sound like you get scrapes often."

"I did when I was younger actually." She admitted. Ino turned around after Hinata's sailor fuku was up to dry.

"Eh? I didn't know you were a wild child." She giggled. Tenten couldn't suppress her own laugh either.

The dark haired teen shook her head. "You're mistaken. When I was younger, I could hardly keep up with Kiba-kun, so I fell down a lot." She smiled sheepishly. "Neji-niisan always had to clean my cuts and put bandages on them."

As if on cue, Tenten slapped a little bandage on Hinata's knee. "So he's always been protective of you. What a softie."

"Oh-ho~!" Ino giggled. "You should see his hair care regime. I think he's more protective of that mane of his than his cousin."

At this, Tenten's cheeks puffed out. "No way! Seriously? And knowing Neji, it _has_ to be really elaborate!"

"It sure is!" Then the both laughed, along with Hinata. This was nice. The three of them – having a good laugh. Hinata didn't speak to Tenten much, but she knew that she was a nice girl. Maybe she'd start.

"Hey!" Neji's voice called out to them. "Hurry up in there, homeroom is about to start."

"Speak of the devil." Tenten murmured before the girls began to giggle.

(^o^)

"How come you're in your tracksuit today, Hinata? We don't have gym today… Do we!?" Naruto asked. Lunch time just started, and Naruto made it to Hinata's desk in record time before anyone else could even move. His concern for her warmed her heart – although he might have only worried about getting in trouble for not having his tracksuit during gym.

"Why do you insist on being so noisy during all times of the day?" Sasuke asked. Well, it was supposed to be a question, but by the way his tone was, it didn't _sound_ like Sasuke was asking. Clearly annoyed, Naruto scowled.

"I was talking to _Hinata_. If I want to talk to you, I would've said so."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Hinata gave a nervous smile. "No, we don't have gym today. My uniform got soaked this morning so I changed out of it so I wouldn't catch a cold." All of a sudden, Naruto placed a hand on Hinata's forehead.

"Hmm, you feel a little warm… Are you okay?"

_I'm only warm because you're so close to me…_

"I-I'm fine, honestly. Don't worry about me." Naruto shrugged it off and advised Hinata to take care of herself before moving to speak to Sasuke. They were talking about their class trip that would take place next month. Their class would be visiting another city, spending three days and two nights there. The discussion took place in homeroom, and all the students had been told to create traveling groups of 5, since boys and girls would be able to travel together.

Of course, they wouldn't be able to sleep together, so everyone needed to decide who they were going to share rooms with as well. Hinata already had part of her traveling group picked out – she had to go with Kiba and Shino! There were no other options. Well, there were other options, but those two had to be a part of her group. Hinata didn't get a chance to pick who she would be sharing a room with, since homeroom was only to discuss the details of the trip such as what would need to be packed, expected behavior – all things that are normally discussed in the topic of school trips.

"Hinata," Tenten's voice called out to her. She placed her hands on top of her desk, bending over slightly as she inched her face a little closer to Hinata's. "I know we don't get to plan it out until later on in the week, but I just thought I'd ask ahead of time if you wanna share a room together."

This would be a perfect time to get to know Tenten. She only knew her as Neji's friend, and shared small talk with her here and there. The white-eyed teen nodded, giving a bright smile. "Cool! We just need to find two more people at least." For sleeping arrangements, everyone had to be in groups of four or five. Hinata wondered if Ino might have been up for it – sharing a room with her and Tenten. They looked like they were hitting it off very nicely this morning, and it didn't seem that Tenten was above Ino's gossip. Then again, Hinata wasn't above Ino's gossip herself.

The girl just had so many juicy stories to tell! It was a wonder where she heard them all from.

"I think Ino would like to join. I can ask her."

"Ah, the girl from this morning right? Sure, sounds good!" Then, Tenten turned around suddenly at the sound of Lee's voice calling her. "Oh, I gotta go. But we'll talk later, kay?"

And then she took off.

(^o^)

"Ah, they're dry again!" Hinata said cheerily, holding her skirt folded skirt in her arms. It was a surprise to her that Ino ironed her clothes so that they weren't wrinkled. Though, Ino had forgotten that they were a little dirty, and Hinata was going to throw them in the washing machine as soon as she got home, so there was no need to press them. Still, Hinata was very touched that Ino would take the time to do something like that for her.

"But your tights are still damp, and they have a hole in them." Said Ino, holding up a pair of black tights. Going home without anything between her feet and her shoes felt weird, but Hinata decided against wearing them back.

"Are you sure? What if your skirt flaps up?" Tenten asked. Hinata blushed. She didn't even think about that.

"Eh? Mine hardly ever blows up. But if it does, I always wear cute panties, just in case." Ino winked.

Hinata gave a small laugh at how predictable her friend was while Tenten's brow furrowed. "You're brave. I've always worn shorts under mine." Then she lifted up her skirt to show black bike shorts.

"But… Don't you get hot in the summer time?" Hinata asked. Tenten nodded.

"Yeah, but I get through it."

"So, tights? Yes or no?" Ino asked, reminding them about the original topic at hand. Hinata shook her head no so Ino threw them away.

"Hopefully I'm not wearing embarrassing underwear…" She mumbled.

Ino's eyes began to shine, and Hinata knew nothing good would come of it. "I'll be the judge of that!" The blonde cried, grinning cheekily. Hinata held onto her skirt, making a face.

"I don't need a judge! Besides, I'm heading over to the art clubroom now."

"Oh, when you see Sai, tell him to return my pencil case! Let him know that I'll be with the choir."

Hinata blinked. "Pencil case?"

"_Yes_, pencil case."

A pencil case was such a trivial matter, but Hinata wasn't going to push it. She knew Ino just wanted an excuse to see Sai. She gave a small giggle, and waved goodbye to Ino and Tenten. Hinata would have to tease Ino later about how cute her crush was on Sai.

It was funny to see her so bashful. Hinata guessed that all people were like that when they wanted to be around someone that they liked – even the people with the most self-confidence.

Though, Naruto had more self-confidence in one hand than Hinata did in her whole body, and he was never shy around Sakura. Maybe Naruto was one of those rare exceptions that defied everyone and everything.

(^o^)

"Oh, that." Sai said, taking a break from sketching. He and Hinata sat at a table by themselves. The other club members were off doing their own thing; painting, drawing chatting about what they watched on television last night. "I put it back in her desk about five minutes ago."

"O-oh…" Was all Hinata managed to say. Now Ino's excuse to see him flew right out of the window. "Um, I still think that you should go see her."

"Why?" Sai questioned.

She couldn't tell him the real reason why. That was Ino's job to do so, not hers. "Just because it would be nice is all…" She mumbled. Oh, that was such a lame answer. Then he would question 'why' again, and she didn't think she'd have an answer for him then.

Sai blinked. "Sure. I'll go see her."

It was at that moment that Hinata thought she and Ino were soul mates. They both liked boys who were so clueless about a girl's feelings. She shouldn't have been criticizing him. Sai was going to see Ino after their time at the club so it was a success! Hinata would have felt so bad if Sai just left and she had to inform Ino that she wouldn't have been able to see him.

When it was time for everyone to go home, Hinata made sure that Sai went to see Ino before she left school for the day.

* * *

Hah! Look at me, putting out another chapter so soon! The monthly chapters don't follow the exact pattern that the seasonal chapters did. I think it's because now that I'm not squishing a little over 3 months in one chapter, I don't need to rely on Hinata to tell me what went down. It's a bit odd not having her talk to me, but change is good. Hopefully I can remind myself not to rush when writing about the months.

Thank you all so much for your kind words! I honestly appreciate all of it!

See you in the next one!

P.S. Concerning the last chapter, if anyone wants to draw Shino in a pink knitted hat with a pompom on the top of it, I'll be a very happy woman.


	6. May

Hi everyone! So, I didn't know about the Naruto High School OVA (well, I did when I saw the ending but I didn't know it was an actual thing. I thought people were just making fan art out of it.) **LET ME JUST SAY!** My head cannon for Neji being student council president and a martial arts expert was true in the OVA and that makes me so happy!

God, I love Neji.

Okay, cool, let's begin. Please enjoy.

* * *

**May:** Who Would've Thought I'd Empathize with You

* * *

"Janken pon!" Kiba and Choji cried at the same time. The two of them were having a fierce battle of rock paper scissors over the last of Hinata's homemade cookies she brought on the trip. They were currently on a very speedy bullet train towards Kyoto. Hinata didn't think too many of her classmates were too keen of visiting the shrines there. She was positive that they wanted to goof off and have fun – as did she.

"Dammit, I lost again." Kiba muttered as he watched Choji have the last of Hinata's delicious homemade cookies. Choji put up the peace sign, opening and closing the space between his index and middle finger to mimic a pair of scissors.

"Scissors are victorious again!" Said the chubby teen.

"Ugh, Choji, don't talk with your mouth full." Shikamaru groaned. "You're getting crumbs all over me."

Suddenly, Naruto peeked his head up from the seat behind Choji. "Hinata has cookies?"

Kiba scoffed. "Not anymore, Choji had the last one."

"Victorious scissors!" Choji repeated. There was a small glint in his eye.

Hinata began to rummage through a small bag she was allowed to take with her at her seat. "Actually…" The white eyed teen said, picking out a small, clear plastic bag with a blue ribbon tied around it. Naruto, Kiba and Choji all smiled with delight.

"Yatta!" They cried in unison.

"Alright! Janken!" Naruto cried. Suddenly, a small hand reached out and hit him on the side of his face.

"Sit down! You shouldn't be eating so many snacks in the first place! And you're bumping into me!" Sakura scolded while the others laughed at Naruto's predicament. Hinata had to say, she was having so much fun already, and they weren't even at their destination yet.

In middle school, Hinata only had Kiba and Shino to rely on as friends. Of course Neji was there, but Neji had to deal with her at home too – she was sure that he had his own friends that he wanted to be with instead of having to babysit her all day. For her class trip in middle school, the teacher had told them the groups weren't going to integrate boys and girls together. Hinata was miserable. Her closest friends were both boys! She had to hang out and share a room with a bunch of girls she didn't know very well.

They were nice enough to let her into their group, but she found that they had nothing in common. The girls all chatted about how cute _Sasuke-kun_ was talked about their favorite pop idols. Although Hinata had no interest in talking about how cute Sasuke was, she did have her fair share of pop idols that she loved, but she was never included into the conversation. Actually, she wasn't included in anything!

The girls didn't let her have a say in the sights they should see (though Hinata mostly blamed herself for being too shy to speak up about it), nor did she join their pillow fight.

This year would be different though. This year, she was traveling with Kiba and Shino, her wonderful childhood friends, as well as Shikamaru and Choji, her wonderful high school friends. She would also be sharing rooms with Ino, Tenten and Sakura. It was strange though. She and Sakura only shared small talk once in a while. They never really connected in the way that she and Ino did.

Hinata wondered why that was the case. She wouldn't have minded if they spoke a little more than they already did – Sakura seemed like a nice person. Sure, she was a little hot headed, but Hinata knew that Sakura meant well.

No, who was she kidding? Hinata knew exactly why they didn't speak much. Because she was the girl who held Naruto's heart – and Hinata hated that she struggled to come to terms with it. Hinata felt a bit awkward every time she came in contact with Sakura, and she was avoiding her the same way she had avoided Naruto. She wouldn't have minded if they spoke to each other during the summer of last year when she came to terms with everything.

But then the image of Sakura and Naruto holding hands during the fireworks came to mind and then she realized that she couldn't do it. This wasn't because she was angry with Sakura. She felt that if they were to become friends, and Naruto and Sakura's relationship took off, she'd feel as if she were betraying Sakura for liking her boyfriend.

And Hinata surely did _not_ want to become that kind of friend.

"What the hell? How do you keep winning!?" Naruto cried, snapping Hinata out of her thoughts.

"I'm telling you, he's gotta be cheating!" Kiba argued, with Naruto nodding in agreement.

Shino slid his glasses up on his face. "How does one cheat at Janken?"

"That's not the point!"

"But you just said –"

"Quiet Shino!" Kiba cried.

Choji only mimicked a pair of scissors with his right hand while eating the bag of cookies with his left. "Victorious scissors are victorious!"

"You all are way too noisy…" Shikamaru groaned.

(^o^)

The statues were absolutely gorgeous. As their homeroom teacher gave a small speech about one of the shrines they were standing in front of, Hinata absentmindedly reached into her skirt pocket. Oh yeah! She forgot her digital camera was in there. She smiled to herself, pulling it out to take a few pictures.

"You should be paying attention to what's going on." Sasuke muttered to her. Hinata looked up at him with slight annoyance on her face. She was unaware, however, that her slightly annoyed face looked like more of a childish pout than anything else. "Also, you'll have to be more menacing than that if you want to scare anyone off, Hyuga." He gave her one of his stupid, snide smirks and then focused his attention to their teacher.

Well of course she wasn't menacing! She wasn't trying to be! Hinata had only wanted to show the Uchiha boy that she wasn't in the mood for his rude remarks. Even so, Hinata placed a hand on her cheek in thought. Sasuke made her just a little self-conscious. Had she always looked unthreatening when she was annoyed? How did she look when she was scolding Hanabi? Was she even taking her seriously?

Before she knew it, their homeroom teacher had stopped talking and allowed them to roam around freely. Without Sasuke to scold her, she decided to take some more pictures. She had shot a few off guard pictures of Shino when she heard someone call her name.

"Hina-chan!" Ino cried, hugging her from behind. "Let's walk around together!"

Hinata smiled and nodded, but their little moment was cut short by Shikamaru. "Oi, go walk with your own group."

Ino huffed in response. "Don't be so rude! The groups don't apply until tomorrow! Besides, I'm not the only one from my group who wants to walk with Hinata."

Hinata was confused. More people wanted to walk with her? In Ino's group, there was Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Sasuke. Maybe Sai and Naruto didn't mind, but she was sure Sasuke and Sakura could care less about taking a walk with her.

"Oh? Well, you should have had her in _your_ group then, if that's the case." Ino frowned, grabbing onto Shikamaru's arm and shaking him lightly.

"Shi-ka-ma-ru!" She whined. "You're so mean!" Shikamaru's face never changed from his usual bored look. He must've been used to this by now.

"Oh, so that's where Ino went – to flirt with other boys." Sakura said, smugness laced in her voice. Their entire group had been walking up to Hinata's. Ino let go of Shikamaru and raised her fist at her pink haired friend.

"You shut up Billboard Brow! Stop trying to make me look bad!"

Naruto blinked before wrapping an arm around Hinata's shoulder as she lightly blushed. "Eh, we get to walk with Hinata? That's awesome!"

"Um, and the rest of us?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, yeah. You too, I guess."

"God dammit." Shikamaru grumbled.

"You got a problem?" Naruto asked.

Yes. Shikamaru was looking forward to a nice, semi-quiet walk with his group. Sure, Kiba and Choji were a bit loud, but it was fine. The prodigy didn't want things too quiet after all, because that would have been boring. Now that Ino showed up, who was loud, she brought Sakura and Naruto, who were also loud, with her as well as Sai and Sasuke, who caused the three of them to be even noisier.

Of course, if Neji saw Naruto all over Hinata, he would be sure to come over and make a fuss too. Shikamaru would have to tell Naruto to watch himself around her when the girls weren't there. Lately, when Neji was at student council meetings, Kiba would have to whack him on the head, and Shikamaru himself even scolded Naruto a few times, resulting in Naruto's whining.

Shikamaru sighed in response.

Was a peaceful day on a field trip too much to ask for?

(^o^)

He slipped an arm around her shoulder and she trembled just a tiny bit to the touch. She should have been used to this by now. It seemed lately these days that Naruto always had his arm around her in some way. He pressed his soft cheek on her own with a childish grin, and made a peace sign with his fingers. Hinata gave a soft smile of her own before she heard the clicking of the camera go off. As soon as it did, Naruto removed his arm from her shoulders and made his way up to Ino.

"Lemme see!" He cried.

"See what? This isn't a digital camera."

"Oh! Then send it to me when you get it developed."

Hinata smiled. They had seen all the wondrous sights they could for the day, and it was almost time to go back to the lodge for some food, a bath and some much needed rest. She was so happy that everyone could be together and have fun, even Shikamaru had fun as much as he didn't want to admit it. When she asked, she just turned his head away from her. She thought that maybe he was catching on that his eyes told her everything she needed to know, and turned away to hide the truth.

At least, that's what Hinata was hoping for.

Today was also wonderful because Naruto took a ton of silly pictures with her. He must have been feeling photogenic because he wouldn't stop bugging Sai or Ino to take pictures of him, especially with Hinata. She felt special, but she was sure that everyone else was tired of it.

Even Sasuke made a point to sabotage a picture of them together. As Sai was about to shoot the photo, Sasuke walked in front of Naruto with a smirk on his lips. When the picture was taken, Hinata didn't have time to register that Sasuke was standing next to her, so she was still smiling in the picture.

Sasuke said that the picture should have been framed in the Uchiha manor for all to see, which greatly annoyed Naruto. Sasuke was only joking, but anything that comes out of Sasuke's mouth hardly sounds like a joke.

Actually, she and Sasuke spoke a little more than usual today. It was a little weird. While Naruto was out pushing Sakura's buttons, Sasuke had stood next to her. They stood in silence for a while before the Uchiha asked,

"Are you ready for the ceremony next month?"

There would be an important tea ceremony held by one of her Father's investors next month, but Hinata didn't know that the Uchihas would be there. She had told him that her father didn't ask him to accompany her. His face soured.

So, Sasuke had to go to the tea ceremony?

She'd be sure not to tell her father about this since she wanted absolutely no part in the event.

* * *

"Woah, Hinata… Your hair is really pretty!" Tenten smiled in awe. They were in one of the small bathhouses that the lodge had. She and Hinata were sitting on stools, shampooing their hair and scrubbing the days sweat and grime off of their bodies. Sakura and Ino had finished that a little while ago, and were finally enjoying the bath not too far away from them.

"R-really?" Hinata asked, a bit embarrassed. "It gets really hard to manage during the winter time, but I always try my very best." Hinata ran her fingers through her newly washed, lavender scented hair and pulled a lock of hair away from the rest to inspect it. She rubbed it in between her index finger and thumb for a moment and sighed.

To think that all of this came from her infatuation for a boy. It was a little funny to her now, the way that she thought her long hair could put Naruto under a spell and have him fall in love with her. She debated cutting it so many times, but now Hinata just couldn't bring herself to do it. She loved her hair and wanted to do everything in her power to keep it shiny and healthy.

"You okay, Hinata?" Tenten asked, bringing her back to earth.

She nodded. "Actually, your hair is much longer than I thought it was." And it was true. Tenten's hair had reached past her shoulders – all the way to her chest. "You look really lovely with your hair down." Hinata smiled.

Tenten frowned, and a small blush made its way onto her cheeks. "I don't think 'lovely' is a good word to describe me."

Hinata giggled. The two kept chatting about hair while Sakura and Ino listened in from the bath. Sakura gave a small sigh. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through her own pink hair as she watched Hinata shampoo hers. Tenten was right. Hinata's hair was really pretty. Black silk. Or that's what Sakura thought it felt like. It certainly did look that way.

Sakura was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't see Ino move right next to her.

"You'll never get anywhere if you just admire from afar. Tell her your true feelings."

The pink haired teen gasped, turning to face her blonde friend, a large blush covering her cheeks. "I-idiot! I wasn't admiring anyone! And what _feelings_ are you talking about!?"

Ino giggled. "Of love." And then she was hit over the head with Sakura's fist.

"I'm not a lesbian, so stop coming up with weird fantasies."

"A-ah… Wrong feelings huh?" Ino asked in a strained voice, recovering from Sakura's punch. Sakura sighed once more before returning her attention to Hinata's hair. Ino did the same. "So then, what's wrong? Are you jealous of Hinata's hair or something?"

"It's really pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

It was silent for a moment before Sakura spoke up again.

"I wonder if I should grow my hair out again…" Ino's face contorted into an expression of shock.

"Don't tell me it's because Sasuke's been paying her lots of attention recently." When Sakura didn't answer, Ino laughed as hard as ever. "Are you _serious_!?"

Her laugh got the attention of Tenten and Hinata. When she and Sakura locked eyes for a moment in time, Sakura's face became redder than Hinata had ever seen it. Then there was a flash of anger in her eyes and she turned to grab Ino into a chokehold.

"**Ino you dumb pig! I'll kill you!**" The harder she tried to make the chokehold, the harder her blonde friend laughed. Suddenly, the chokehold got weaker, and Sakura found herself crying crocodile tears. "Don't laugh at meeee!" She whined.

(^o^)

When Hinata and Tenten got into the bath, Tenten let out a content sigh.

"Ahh, it feels like I'm being rewarded for years of hard work. I can turn in and die happy now."

Ino gave her a jaded look. "You sound like an old man."

Sakura let out a small chuckle before noticing that Hinata was a little far away from the rest of them in the bath, and she was covering herself too. That Hyuga sure was shy, wasn't she? Sakura gave her most reassuring smile and motioned for Hinata to come closer.

"You don't have to be afraid of us, we're not going to hurt you or anything. Besides, we're all girls here. You don't have to hide anything from us."

Hinata gasped lightly. She had never been around many girls, so taking a bath with them made her feel really shy. The only person she had taken baths with (and was comfortable with) was with her sister. Hinata reluctantly nodded before scooting closer to the girls in the bath, uncovering herself in the process.

Sakura stared.

And stared.

And _stared_.

And Hinata covered herself up again, blushing furiously. "D-don't stare, it's embarrassing!"

Sakura brought her hands up to her own chest and cringed. This just wasn't fair. Of course she saw her in her swimsuit last summer at Ino's summer home, but for some reason, Hinata just looked _bigger_ without clothing. Would she ever be able to win?

Suddenly, Sakura felt a light tap on her shoulder. It was Ino. She gave her a smug smirk.

"So… They weren't feelings of love, but rather _lust_."

And then, Sakura hit Ino for the second time that night.

(^o^)

_Let's meet up at the vending machine together. We can catch up and buy snacks before lights out._

Hinata smiled at the text message she received from Kiba. Catching up with her dog loving friend would be a good way to end the night. Of course, she'd see him tomorrow but Hinata and Kiba have always been an inseparable pair of friends. Along with Shino, they were the semi-inseparable trio, mostly because Shino liked to have his alone time and his friends were very understanding of that.

Hinata finally texted Kiba back before shoving her phone in her track suit pants pocket and heading out to the vending machines. Before she left, she asked if anyone wanted anything but only Tenten took her up on her offer, saying that she'd like a soda.

"Oh, Hinata's here!" Kiba grinned. She had been expecting him to be with Shino but this wasn't the case. Apparently, Naruto decided to tag along.

"Yo, Hinata!" Naruto smiled.

"Ah, hey." Hinata greeted them. "How was your bath?"

Kiba and Naruto looked at each other before exchanging mischievous grins.

"Eh, Hinata wants to know how our bath was?" Kiba asked, moving closer towards the dark haired teen.

"Ah, how dirty Hinata. I didn't think you were _that_ kind of girl." Naruto said. Hinata's face immediately turned red and she waved her hands in front of her rapidly.

"N-no, you're mistaken! I just wanted to know if you guys enjoyed – ah! N-never mind! F-forget I asked!"

"It's okay Hinata, I'll tell you about it since you want to know so badly." But Naruto nor Kiba said this. The two looked behind them and almost jumped right out of their skin, standing next to Hinata in the process.

"Sai, why do you keep doing that? It's creepy!" Naruto cried, his fists up in the air and his eyes were tightly shut.

Sai ignored him, focusing his intense gaze on Hinata. "You actually didn't miss much. Especially with these two." Hinata didn't understand what Sai was getting at, until she saw where Sai was looking and blushed furiously. Kiba and Naruto couldn't fight off the blood rushing to their faces, a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"Why were you even looking anyway!?"

"There wasn't much to look at."

"Why you –!"

"But I have to say. Sasuke makes up for the both of you."

It was then that Hinata walked up to the vending machine to buy some snacks and Tenten's soda before she speedily walked off in the direction of her room.

"Wait Hinata! Ah, see what you did Sai?" Kiba frowned.

"But, she wanted to know, right?" Sai asked.

All they had to was just say "oh, I enjoyed the bath" or "it was so relaxing" and that was it! She had only wanted to make small talk, not hear about the boy's sizes…

She'd never be able to look at any of them the same way.

(^o^)

After that whole debacle at the vending machine, Hinata was finally able to relax as she and the girls shared snacks and chatted on their futons. Their conversation lasted another five minutes before Sakura warned them that it was almost 10:00, and that meant lights out.

Hinata didn't want to go to sleep. She was having so much fun, and they didn't even get to have a pillow fight like she wanted to. Hinata never had one before, and she wanted to be able to do it before her high school career was over.

She fluffed up her pillow, and held it on her lap to scan the room. Everyone else was busy getting ready for bed, so Hinata regarded this as her opportunity to strike. She grasped her pillow in both hands and hurled it as hard as she could at Tenten who had just turned around at that exact moment. The soft weapon hit her right in the face and she fell on her butt.

"H-Hina-" Sakura tried to say, but Ino cut her off.

"A pillow fight! Awesome! I wanna – Ack!" Ino was hit on the side of her face. "Why me? I didn't even hit you!" Ino cried. Tenten never took her sparkling eyes off of Hinata, even when she answered her question.

"One should always be on alert on the battlefield! This is war Hinata!"

The dark haired teen only clenched her fists in determination, puffing her cheeks out slightly. "Bring it on!" She cried.

Tenten chucked a pillow right at Hinata, hitting only her shoulder as she tried to dodge it. "Oh no! I've been hit!"

The girls spent time tossing and whacking each other with their cushiony ammunition. At one point, Hinata even found the courage to throw a pillow right at the side of Sakura's head. Sakura feigned anger, and looked at Hinata with a glare.

"Oh, what a surprisingly good throw Hinata-_hime_. I bet you can't handle this!" Sakura cried, throwing the pillow as hard as she could. Hinata dropped on the floor to dodge it and it hit someone else square in the face; someone who wasn't in their room originally.

Sakura hit Principal Tsunade.

The girls exchanged looks of fear before dropping to the floor, pretending to sleep. Ino even added in a fake snore. Tsunade stood there for a while with her eyes closed, processing what exactly just happened. She then picked up one of the pillows on the floor and held it at her side.

"I know you all aren't sleeping, so get up!" Tsunade growled, and the girls did as they were told. "And you." She pointed to Sakura.

"M-me?"

"You've got an arm on you. I'm gonna feel that tomorrow. You may have won the battle but you haven't won the war!" Everyone was confused for a moment before Tsunade tossed the pillow she was holding at Sakura, who successfully dodged. The five of them spent another 10 minutes playing when their principal stopped them all of a sudden.

"Hit the floor!" She hissed quietly, and the girls followed her lead, pretending to sleep once more. The door slammed open, revealing Vice Principal Shizune.

"I know you girls aren't asleep! Get up and –! _Principal Tsunade_!?"

The four students looked at Tsunade who didn't move. Then they looked at Shizune.

"Principal Tsunade, **get up**!" Tsunade sat up as she was told and puffed out her cheeks. "I can't believe you! You're supposed to be a role model for these girls and here you are playing –"

Shizune scolded Tsunade for a while as she huffed. At that moment, Hinata thought that Principal Tsunade was very childlike and cute.

* * *

"Man, I'm still sore!" Kiba groaned, massaging his right shoulder. Hinata's travel group was on their way to one of the tourist sections in Kyoto. Shikamaru said that it would be time efficient if they went by taxi, so the group all chipped in to pay for the fare.

"Oh, what happened? Are you okay?" Hinata's voice was laced with concern for her friend.

"Nah, I'm fine. Me n Naruto had a wrestling match last night after you left. Kakashi-sensei almost caught us too… That was a close one." Kiba grinned. Hinata smiled. She wished that she could have seen it. It must've looked so fun.

"Yes, and Naruto won." Shino spoke.

"No he didn't, it was a draw! Sheesh, stop making me look bad!"

Now Hinata was positive that she wanted to see this wrestling match. She remembered Naruto being slender but also pretty toned from when she saw him on the beach last year. He was on the basketball team, so that's probably why his body was like that. A small blush made its way on her face as she thought about seeing her blond crush without his shirt on again. Oh, how vulgar of her; to think about Naruto in such a way. Luckily, Kiba was too busy with Shino to notice the small blush that crept onto her face.

"Sounds too noisy. I slept peacefully last night." That's right. Shikamaru didn't share a room with Kiba and the rest. Instead, he was with Neji, Choji, Lee and another kid from their class that was on student council with her cousin. She couldn't remember his name, but she was sure he had called her cute on several occasions, which didn't please Neji in the slightest.

"And we ate tons of delicious snacks." Choji chimed in.

"What did you do, Hinata?" Shino faced her, and Hinata blinked. Then she remembered what Principal Tsunade had said this morning.

_"__If you tell anyone what happened…"_ Then she ran a finger across her neck, implying that she'd have their heads.

No, Hinata couldn't tell them the truth, or Tsunade would kill her.

"Ah, we just ate snacks and chatted for a little bit. That's all." She smiled, and Kiba looked disappointed.

"And here I thought you guys would've had sexy pillow fights or something."

Shino blinked. "I don't know what goes on in your head sometimes, Kiba."

Well, it certainly wasn't as sexy as Kiba had hoped, but Hinata did have her first pillow fight yesterday, and she enjoyed every moment of it.

(^o^)

"There's an art museum not too far from here." Shikamaru pointed at a spot on his map. "We can check it out for a bit before heading to get some food."

"Yes! We better be having some Korean barbecue!" Choji cried.

"Not likely." Shikamaru answered. Choji grumbled. "Besides, only you would be able to eat that much and still have room for dinner at the lodge later."

Choji gave a hearty laugh and Shikamaru urged everyone to walk towards the museum. When they entered the building, Hinata was immediately enthralled by all of the paintings around her. The western works were quite interesting. Hinata noticed that western paintings in the twentieth century didn't have as many harsh lines as the ones painted in Japan.

She took out her camera to take a few pictures. Sai would definitely love to see these. She'd have to email them to him when they got home.

"Oi Hinata!" Kiba called out to her. "Look! Look at what I found!" He grabbed hold of her wrist and they walked ways away from the western section to an exhibit that had paintings of Japanese folklore. Some Hinata knew of and some were very obscure. Kiba then turned her attention to a painting in front of them.

It was very plain looking. The background was white and the only color on the paper were black lines, forming the silhouette of a man who was bent over. He wore nothing – no shoes, no shirt or pants. His lack of genitalia shocked Hinata. When her eyes looked a little higher, she could see that his butt was proudly in the air, and the place where his anus was supposed to be was replaced with…

"Is that an eyeball?" Hinata asked. Kiba nodded.

"Mhmm! It's asshole eyeball! Remember him?"

Hinata laughed. She laughed as hard as she did when Sai had first told them the story last summer. She had felt something warm touch her cheeks. They were her tears.

Her cheeks were red, and she was covering her mouth to keep from disturbing too many people who were trying to enjoy the museum. Then she snorted, and that's when Kiba began to laugh with her. Hinata found herself unable to move for a few minutes, as she was relying on Kiba to support her since she couldn't stand anymore. Her stomach began to hurt from the laughter, as did her cheeks.

"Did you break her or something?" Shikamaru asked. He, Choji and Shino were coming towards them to find out what exactly was wrong with Hinata.

"Of course I didn't." Kiba gave a frown and then pointed to the painting on the wall.

Shikamaru read the kanji on the small plaque beneath the painting carefully. "_Shirime_… Again with this stupid story?"

Hinata nodded. For a moment, her laughter had subsided. When she looked up at the painting once more, her cheeks puffed out, and she resumed her laughter. She just had to get a picture and show this to Sai.

(^o^)

After spending the day in the museum and buying souvenirs for their families, Shikamaru suggested that they find the closest train station that would take them back to the lodge. They walked through a few small and quiet neighborhoods as they followed the map, but after the fifth neighborhood, the prodigy was starting to think that they were walking in circles.

"…I'm following everything the map says to do but I think this is the same neighborhood we just went by." Shikamaru frowned. Kiba snatched the map from his hands.

"Lemme see that! Mhmm, mhmm…" He murmured.

"'Mhmm, mhmm' what?" Shikamaru asked.

"I dunno how to read this at all!"

"That doesn't help us now does it?" The prodigy growled, snatching the map back into his possession.

Hinata held onto Shino's arm for comfort. "A-are we lost…?" It was starting to get dark, and they should have been on their way back by now. To make matters worse, they didn't even know where they were on the map.

"We're not lost!" Kiba cried. "Look, let's just ask that lady."

There happened to be an old woman who was walking up the street and Kiba approached her calmly, showing his student ID and explaining their situation to them. Hinata always thought that when the time called for it, Kiba was excellent with words and making people feel secure. This was evident in the old woman's warm smile towards him and the way the wrinkles around her mouth moved slowly as she spoke to him. When her lips had stopped moving, he bowed and rushed over to them.

"I know where to go now!" He cried.

"Are you sure?" Shino asked. "Of course I am! C'mon! Follow my lead!"

Everyone did as they were told and followed Kiba. To their dismay, they were back to square one. "B-but the lady said – argh!" Kiba cried. This wasn't going so well. Hinata bit down on her lip.

"We're lost…" Hinata said.

"We're not lost! We're just misplaced!"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Stop nitpicking Shino! Gosh!"

Hinata saw Shikamaru's eyes widen slightly. Did he figure something out?

"Oh," he spoke. "It's Ino's group."

Upon hearing her name Ino gasped and ran full speed towards him. "Shikamaruuuuuu!" She cried.

"Do you know where the train station is? We're kinda lost right now." Ino stopped running right before she got to her childhood friend and groaned.

"You guys too?" She whined. The rest of her group trailed behind her, looking quite finished with today.

"What're we going to do now?" Sakura asked. "We asked at least three people who all said totally different things. No one seems to know anything about this place."

Suddenly, an idea came to Hinata. She pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket and flipped it open. Everyone crowded around her, giving her a thumbs up and telling her that she had a nice idea.

"I didn't know you had one of our teacher's phone numbers." Shikamaru said.

"I don't." Everyone suddenly became confused as to who she was calling. "Ah, hello? Neji-niisan?"

Kiba and Naruto froze in place.

"Yes. We're actually lost right now, so I was wondering if –"

"Ahhh! Hinata, are you crazy!?" Kiba cried, startling her. Naruto closed her phone, ending the call between her and her cousin.

"Neji'll kill us if he finds out we got you lost!" Sakura grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt.

"That doesn't even amount to what I'll do if you keep us from getting back to the lodge because of your stupid pride!"

A buzzing sound happened to go by, and everyone stopped to see where this sound was coming from. Their eyes eventually fell on the white eyed teen standing in the middle of the group. It was coming from Hinata's right hand. "Oh, Neji-niisan is calling back."

"Don't answer it!" Naruto and Kiba cried in unison, juggling Hinata's phone back and forth so that Sakura or Ino couldn't answer to tell Neji where they were. Hinata sighed.

Would they ever get back to the lodge?

(^o^)

"I can't believe you two! Hinata tells me she's lost, and the phone suddenly cuts off! And then she's not picking up after that – how do you two think I felt!?" Neji was currently giving Naruto and Kiba a well-deserved scolding. They all had made it in time before dinner, much to Choji's delight. "I thought she had gotten kidnapped or something! You don't know how close I was to calling Hiashi!"

"Man, Neji's really digging into them." Ino said, watching him in slight awe.

"Serves them right." Sakura mumbled. She took a bite out of the meat held in between her chopsticks.

Tenten flashed a smile and looked towards Hinata. "But you know, it must be really great to have a person who cares so much about you. Neji always talks about how proud he is of you, like a doting father."

Did he really? The thought of her cousin's praise made her smile fondly. It was such an honor to have Neji think that way of her. Neji always knows what he wants to do and how he wants to execute it. He's level-headed, intelligent, and always knows the best route to take in a hectic situation. Of course Hinata would be flattered that he thought so highly of her.

A small blush grew on her face and she gave a sheepish smile. "Ahh, it's so embarrassing. Does he really?"

"Of course!"

"Oh yeah, Hinata. You didn't tell us you guys had a pillow fight with Principal Tsunade." Shikamaru said.

"You did?" Shino asked.

Hinata and Tenten exchanged looks of worry. "W-who told you that!?"

"Ino." Why did Hinata even bother asking? Of course Ino did!

"I-Ino!" Hinata started. "Principal Tsunade said not to tell anyone!"

The blonde blinked in confusion before tilting her head to the side. "When did she say that?"

"This morning!" Tenten cried.

Oh right, now that she thought about it, it wasn't just a dream that she had been having. But Ino was half asleep when Tsunade told them this. "Oh crap!" She cried. "She's gonna kill me!"

Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh at Ino's predicament. "Maybe if you learned to keep your mouth shut, you'd be fine."

"Oh shut up Shikamaru! Leave me alone for once, why don't you!?"

As the rest of the group chatted animatedly over dinner, Sakura couldn't help but watch how Sasuke's dark eyes never left Hinata.

* * *

"Oh no…" Hinata mumbled. She wanted to buy some juice at the vending machine for 180 yen but she realized that she was five yen short. If she left and came back, someone was sure to take the soda that she mostly paid for. But standing here wasn't going to help her case either. Hinata decided that she'd bring even more money with her just in case someone had already purchased her drink.

"Short on money?"

Hinata turned around. "O-oh, Uchiha-san." He looked at her with his usual haughty smirk. Hinata was starting to prefer the mysterious, scary face he put on during the first two weeks of school. "Why do you ask?"

"I saw you putting coins in but then you stopped suddenly and nothing came out. I was wondering if you were going to leave or just stand there stupidly."

Hinata's question still stood. _Why_ did he have to ask if he already knew the answer?

"W-well, yeah. I am short on money."

He dug around in the pocket of his blue tracksuit pants before extending his open palm filled with coins. "Take whichever one you need."

Hinata nodded and picked up the five yen coin she needed ever so carefully from his hand. While she paid for the rest of her drink, he shoved his coin-filled hand back into his pocket.

"Thank you." She bowed slightly.

"Hn." Was his only reply.

Hinata watched as Sasuke paid for his own drink before deciding that it was time to turn in.

"Wait." He called out to her, and Hinata was very confused. Sasuke never wanted to hold a conversation with her, so why did he want to now all of a sudden?

"Are you really not going to the ceremony next month?"

Hinata bit her lip. The tea ceremony, right? She was never told that she was expected to attend. "When exactly is it?"

"It's on the 13th, a Tuesday."

"Tuesday?" Hinata repeated. No wonder her father didn't tell her – they had school on that day. Was Sasuke's father really going to pull him out of school just to attend some ceremony? "Is it an all-day event?"

"Yeah, something like that. I suppose your father doesn't want you to miss school?" He asked. Hinata nodded in reply.

She poked a straw into her juice box and took a sip. "But I don't understand why your father would let you miss school…"

Sasuke gave a sigh, his voice slightly hoarse. "Because he cares about that stupid business –"

"More than he cares about me…" Hinata finished. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. It were as if she were reading his mind. But she wasn't. She only completed the sentence that ran in her mind over a thousand times about her own father.

At least his father seemed to think that he could catch up even though he missed one day of school. Hinata's father would have her go to school sick if he could.

Still, Hinata and Sasuke locked eyes, with empathy written all over them. Hinata never thought she would say this in a million years, but the only person whom she could really see so much of herself in at this point in her life was Uchiha Sasuke.

For once, she didn't feel deathly afraid of the darkness in Sasuke's eyes. They held so much more than just the unknown. They were hollow and worn out. They carried the weight of all the responsibility and hardship his father dumped on him to someday take over his company.

And Hinata's carried that same weight, as well as the pressure and fear of messing up and being regarded as a failure to her family.

"You too, huh?" Sasuke finally asked, and Hinata looked down at her slippers.

"Yes…"

Sasuke took his first sip of the juice that he purchased. "I didn't think that I'd be able to empathize with you of all people, Hyuga."

"That makes two of us."

Then the Uchiha boy let out a low, almost lifeless chuckle. "It hurts some days. And then on others, you feel like you don't care about anything anymore."

"B-but then, you know that you're lying to yourself… Because you wouldn't feel so… so…"

"Miserable and angry if you truly didn't care." Sasuke finished her sentence. Hinata nodded. She told Naruto that she would talk to Sasuke and let him know if she found out anything new but she just couldn't bring herself to talk to him about it. She would feel awful if Sasuke went and told her feeling on her family affairs to Kiba or Shino. This was something that Sasuke would have to disclose with Naruto on his own.

"We should head back to our rooms now, before one of the teachers scold us for being out so late before lights out."

Hinata nodded and they bid each other a goodnight. She took some more sips of her juice before she rested her lips rest on the straw. Well, now she didn't need to force a friendship with Sasuke. Hinata still didn't regard them as friends, just because she was sure that Sasuke wouldn't. They were just two people who understood each other; that was all.

She reached the door to her room but hesitated to slide it open. She heard her name said by a voice that sounded like Sakura's. But Sakura wasn't calling to her. It sounded like she was talking about her… to Ino!

"Does it really bother you?" She could hear Ino ask. "I mean, Hinata is finally coming out of her shell, and she's a good girl."

"I never said she wasn't a good girl. And I'm happy that she's a little more outgoing now… I just… Envy her."

Haruno Sakura _envied_ Hinata?

But why? If anything, Hinata envied _her_! Sakura had everything! The good looks, the bold personality, the brains and the heart of someone Hinata loved dearly. What on earth did Hinata have that would be envied by someone like her?

"Is this about the Sasuke thing still?"

Was Sakura still upset about her sharing notes with Sasuke? It seemed like such a small thing to be upset over, but Hinata was willing to let her give him notes instead, if that's what she wanted.

"Well, over dinner tonight, he stared at her the entire time. And then when I went out in the hall, I caught them staring at each other for so long at the vending machine. They looked close. How does that all happen in a month…?"

Oh no! Sakura was mistaken! Hinata wanted to barge in right then and let her know that she and Sasuke didn't harbor any romantic feelings for each other, but how would she explain the staring? They just happened to have a huge thing in common and they just stared into each other's eyes in astonishment for a few minutes?

Of course not! That would sound even stranger.

"Recently, Naruto doesn't shut up about her either…"

Hinata's heart skipped a beat. Naruto talks about her?

She didn't have time to think about that, since Ino's question shook her out of her thoughts.

"I've been meaning to ask. What are your feelings on Naruto anyway?"

"H-huh?"

Ino frowned. "Don't 'huh' me. I'm serious. You go on about how annoying he is, and then I catch you holding hands with him and staring right into his eyes over at my summer home." Sakura's breath shortened, as did Hinata's.

Ino hadn't seen any of that. Hinata only told her about it when she was feeling down. However, Hinata took comfort on how good of a friend Ino was, that she wasn't relaying any of Hinata's feelings to Sakura, and the same went for relaying Sakura's feelings to Hinata.

"It's complicated I guess…" Sakura sighed, and Ino urged her to continue. "I… He's been a really great friend to me, despite annoying me all the time. He'd stop by my house to see me often and he'd give me his chicken scratch notes when I missed school."

Sakura took a pause and ran her fingers through her hair. "I think he's such a sweet person, and… I guess I kind of like him… I mean, we shared a kiss over spring break…"

"You did…?" Ino's eyes widened.

They… _did_?

"Yeah… I dunno, it just sort of happened, I guess."

The blonde bit her bottom lip in thought before asking, "Well, why don't you date him? You know his feelings already."

Ino was right. Why wasn't she dating him? She had his love served to her on a silver platter, and she still wouldn't go for it.

"Because… I can't enter a relationship when I have feelings for someone else too, you know?"

Hinata should have known. That's why she looked so confused at the beginning of the semester. She still harbored feelings for Sasuke. Of course she had to have felt something for Naruto – she held his hand at the beach for crying out loud!

And then Sakura had said that they kissed! Hinata's heart felt like it died when she said it. Not only did they kiss, but it was so recent too! If Hinata thought that Naruto was unattainable over the summer, then she was sadly mistaken. That hand holding had nothing on the kiss they shared over spring break – nothing at all!

And to think Hinata thought she actually stood a chance. Hadn't she reminded herself countless times that he loved Sakura and she would only ever get to be his friend? Maybe it just hurt to know that Sakura felt the same way about him too.

And because of that, she could never be as close as she wanted to be.

Maybe she should've just stopped wanting a relationship between them. They were already friends, weren't they? She was being way too greedy, right?

"So then, why do you feel that way about her?" Ino asked, reminding Hinata that they were still having a conversation about her.

"Romantic feelings or not, those two are still my friends… And I feel like I'm losing them to her…"

Ino comforted Sakura by saying that it wasn't true and something along the lines of "the more, the merrier" but Hinata couldn't focus on the conversation anymore, only on Sakura's last words.

Did she honestly feel that Hinata was stealing her friends away? She wasn't trying to do so! Hinata didn't know what she was feeling anymore. Hurt, sadness, jealousy, confusion?

She only knew that she felt a knot in her stomach, and it was not a good feeling. To make matters worse, Hinata thought that she and Sakura had so much fun together last night, and could have been good friends. But now with all of this, Hinata was positive that Sakura resented her. Hinata would have cried if someone took away Kiba and Shino from her… But this was a little different.

Sakura had romantic feelings for Naruto and Sasuke, which made everything just a little more complicated. When it was silent, Hinata put on her best "I'm clueless" face and slid open the door to the room. Ino and Sakura looked up at her quickly, but Sakura looked away while Ino gave a warm smile.

"Welcome home, Hinata!" She beamed.

Hinata blinked. "Ah, h-home?" Ino gave a soft giggle.

"But, welcome back. Do you know where Tenten went?"

Come to think of it, Sakura and Ino wouldn't have had that conversation if Tenten was in the room… Where was she?

"Yaho~!" Tenten grinned, walking through the doorway with a towel on her head.

Ino blinked. "Don't tell me you were in the bath this whole time!"

Tenten nodded in response. How did she not get caught?

"You're gonna prune up for sure." Ino teased.

"I love taking baths, so it's fine." She laughed.

The girls finished getting ready for bed and Ino turned out the lights. Hinata pulled the blankets over her head, and did something she hadn't done in a long time.

She cried.

* * *

Man, I was in such a great mood writing this until I got to this last scene. Now I kind of bummed myself out.

I don't know if anyone cares to know, but I thought it'd be a little fun fact. Originally, my goal was to write exactly 2000 word "mega" scenes and put those up as chapters ("mini" scenes are time skips to another time in the same day or another day in the same week divided by these: (^o^) **–x-**).

If I stuck with that, I'd have 24 chapters now! But I decided to mush four scenes into one chapter cause it flows better I feel. That and each mega scene takes place during different weeks in the monthly chapters.

This isn't the case for May though because I just wanted to talk about the school trip. Okay! Look out for chapter 7: June!

I hope you enjoyed it! See you in the next one!


	7. June

Hiya! So, everyone seemed to be so upset about the last chapter. It'll get better, I promise! Hinata's tougher than she looks!

I wanted to take time out and thank everyone who has reviewed. They really make my day and I love reading them and taking your advice. I know this isn't the greatest story out there, but I'm so happy that you all enjoy reading it. Thank you so much!

I also want to thank everyone who follow/have been reading the story but don't review. I don't get to see your feelings on the story, but I hope I'm making things enjoyable for you too!

Okay, let's get this started!

* * *

**June**: Hey! It's my Body, isn't it?

* * *

"Would you just go away and leave him alone!?"

"Ah! You'd like that wouldn't you!? So you could spend time with my Sasuke-sama!"

Hinata sighed. Sakura and Karin were arguing over Sasuke again for the fifteenth time this week, Hinata counted, and it was only Tuesday. It was never at one set time either – Karin made it a point to bother them before homeroom, during breaks between classes, at lunch and even after school. Hinata almost felt sorry for Sasuke.

Almost.

Ino was right. She wasn't sure how Sakura had so much energy to even bother dealing with Karin. The redhead was way too exuberant and high-strung to deal with at all times of the day but Hinata thought bitterly that if Sakura could deal with a certain boisterous blond, and kiss him too, then she could deal with Karin's nonsense.

Hinata buried her face in her hands at that thought. That sounded quite mean, and she felt awful for thinking it, but she just couldn't help herself. Ever since the class trip, she and Sakura were so awkward around each other. She also felt a little nervous every time she caught Haruno's vibrant green eyes watching her.

It was never for a long time – they were usually short glances, but Hinata still felt a little uncomfortable. As if Sakura would actually call her out in the middle of class to tell her she stole her friends away. Yeah right.

"Can you believe her? And look at those marks on her arms. What's all that about?" One of the boys who sat behind her said. He was right. Karin always had these marks all over her arms that looked like someone bit and scratched her.

"I hear it's because she's a terrible girl, having rough sex with older men she knows nothing about." A girl murmured. Hinata removed her hands from her face, but a small blush found its way onto her cheeks.

Rough sex? How could those two talk about something like that in school – and how could they speak about someone like that? It could have been plausible. Karin was highly flirtatious. She said all these bold things to and about Sasuke without batting an eyelash.

Hinata decided this was not something she wanted to think about and patiently waited for their homeroom teacher to come in and kick Karin out.

(^o^)

"Yeah! And then, the guy jumped out of building but the bird lady caught him! And then –"

Kiba had been talking about some movie he watched over the weekend with some of his friends in the basketball club. Shino listened to every word as he ate his lunch but Hinata could hardly concentrate. She hadn't spoken with Naruto in so long. She was sure that he'd confront her about it too… But what would she say to him?

She couldn't tell him that she felt strange being around him because of the kiss he and Sakura shared. No one was supposed to know that she knew about it. And if anyone found out, her pink haired classmate would surely be angry with her for listening in on a private conversation.

Oh, why'd she have to stand there and listen in on their conversation? Eavesdroppers never hear anything good about themselves, after all. Though, out of all that mess, the one thing Hinata found calming was Ino. From the day she heard the conversation until now, Ino never let a single secret Sakura told her escape her lips. Ino was certainly a chatterbox and quite the gossiper, but she'd never gossip about her friends – or at least gossip about anything serious concerning her friends.

"Hinata!" Kiba cried, startling the quiet girl.

"Ah! Y-you don't have to call my name so loudly…" She frowned.

Her tanned friend folded his arms and a slight scowl happened upon his lips. "Don't gimmie that! I've been calling your name for a good minute now!"

Had he really? She hadn't noticed.

"You've been spacing out a lot lately," Shino adjusted his glasses, and although Hinata couldn't see his eyes, she could sense that he was concerned. "Are you okay? Do you have a cold?"

Hinata shook her head lightly. Kiba suddenly moved closer to her, and said in a low voice,

"Don't tell me you're upset that we took you away from _Uchiha-san_." He said Sasuke's name so teasingly, and he wasn't doing a very good job of mimicking her voice either.

"O-of course not!" She huffed. Today, she was sitting at Shino's desk for lunch, who sat all the way towards the back of the classroom – closest to the door. Her desk was closest to the window in the middle row and Sasuke's was right next to hers. Today, Naruto and Sakura were over there having lunch with him.

Sasuke refused to move and so the two decided they'd sit over at his desk for lunch. Because Hinata felt uneasy around those two, she took Shino up on his offer to sit at his desk at lunch.

"I was just in thought, that's all…"

Kiba hummed for a second, backing away from his shy friend and resting his elbows on the desk. "What kinda thoughts?"

Hinata bit down on her lip lightly; her brow furrowed. "I… can't really talk about it here. Would you mind if I told you another time?"

Kiba shook his head. "It's cool. Me and Shino'll be here when you wanna talk about it, right Shino?"

He gave a small nod and Hinata felt relieved. It was nice to know that they wouldn't press her for information she wasn't yet ready to give. That and she wasn't going to talk about Sakura and Naruto in the same classroom.

That would be suicide.

(^o^)

Hinata stretched her arms out above her head with a stifled moan. She stood up on tips of her toes and her white and black sailor fuku raised, uncovering her stomach. Sai had asked her to help move some equipment into the art storage room and she had just finished and was ready to go home. The club members in the art club decided to leave a little early for today, but she had promised Kiba that she'd walk home with him today and he was still at basketball practice.

Maybe she'd sit in for a little while and watch. It was always so fun to watch Kiba play; no one on the team could match his speed. When she reached the gym, she noticed that Karin was blocking the doors. But, why was she here? Hinata held her fists at her chest. The thought of speaking to Karin made her nervous. She debated on waiting for Kiba by his shoe locker to avoid asking Karin to move but thought against it.

She wanted to be just a little more assertive and try her hand at not avoiding everyone. Hinata mustered up all the courage she had before confronting the glasses-clad girl in front of her. "E-excuse me…" Her voice was so soft, and yet Karin had heard her.

"Oh. Sorry. No one's allowed inside right now." She said plainly. Hinata only tilted her head to the side. Was Karin lying to her so she'd leave?

"Oh…" She shifted uncomfortably for a moment. Karin was quite intimidating, but Hinata wasn't ready to give up just yet. "Wh-whys that?"

The redhead placed her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. "Well, originally, I was going in to go see Sasuke-kun," She started. No way, was Sasuke on the basketball team too?

"But then Haruno decided that she wanted to see him too. We were arguing in there for a while and then Guy-sensei kicked us out for disturbing the players. So, no one's allowed in for today."

Well, it surely didn't sound like Karin was lying – that situation sounded more than realistic. "So, did you come to see Sasuke-kun practice too?" At this point, Karin had opened one of her eyes, waiting for Hinata's answer.

Her tone wasn't filled with any type of aggressiveness, which was surprising to Hinata. She shook her head and Karin went on talking. "Hmm… Oh yeah. Don't you sit next to him in class?"

Did she really pay attention to anyone other than Sasuke and Sakura? Hinata was slightly impressed.

Slightly.

She answered Karin's question with a nod, and Karin moved to fold her arms, looking at Hinata suspiciously. She didn't like all these no word answers she was getting. "So, do you like Sasuke-kun?"

The dark haired girl looked at Karin in surprise. She didn't want to have to deal with another person who thought that she was trying to steal Sasuke away from her. "Um… I wouldn't go so far as to say like. I just sort of tolerate him…"

It was then that the redhead before her gave a great laugh. "You're funny! What's your name?"

Hinata couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. "Hyuga Hinata," she said, giving a small bow, "it's nice to meet you." While she bowed, Hinata could see that some of the markings on Karin's arm looked like they happened recently.

"U-um…" She was so afraid to ask, but she found herself unable to stop the words from leaving her mouth. "What happened to your arms…?"

She looked down at her own arms for a moment, taking in all the scratched and other marks that she wore. "You're actually the first person to ask me that question." She laughed bitterly. Hinata almost flinched at how dry it was.

Was she really the only person curious enough to ask about Karin and not make assumptions? She felt bad for her.

"Actually, my cats do this to me." Karin blushed. Hinata didn't think she'd ever see the day. The redhead flirted as if it were nothing and wasn't known for her bashfulness, unlike Hinata.

"Cats?" Hinata asked.

Karin nodded. "I pick up strays around my house and my caretaker checks them for any diseases and patches them up. They're pretty rowdy, so they bite and scratch a lot, especially when I try to clip their nails."

"Wow… That's really nice of you…" Uncharacteristically nice of her! Usually, Karin was pretty cold to those around her and was known to be a little violent. It was strange to think about her being warm and gentle with cats. But Karin proved her wrong, as she took out a few photos from her wallet.

"There's Kyo and Ryo here," she started pointing to two cats. Kyo was mostly black with white spots and Ryo was a very cute looking orange tabby cat. "And over here is Tojo-baachan."

"Tojo… baachan?" Hinata questioned, looking a very large white cat with brown spots.

"Mhmm," Karin nodded, "she's pretty old. Her birthday is in September, so she'll be 18."

Hinata watched as she put away the photos of her cats. Karin was such an interesting person – so tough looking on the outside, but she was such a softie on the inside.

"Did you ask because you thought I was an immoral girl who had sex with older men too?"

Hinata was dumbstruck. Karin actually heard that? Maybe she was more perceptive of the things around her than Hinata thought. When Hinata didn't answer, Karin waved her hand dismissively.

"It's fine, you don't have to answer it. But I'm kinda glad you asked. People just assume." It was quiet between the two of them until she spoke up again. "You know, even if it was true, why does it matter? Shouldn't we be able to do what we want to our own bodies and our own lives? As long as I'm okay with it, it should be fine, right?"

Hinata's eyes widened at her question. Being able to do what it is that we want with our own lives, as long as we're okay with it… "Yes, it should be fine." Hinata nodded with a smile on her lips.

Karin certainly was an interesting person indeed.

* * *

"So how did it go yesterday?" Hinata asked. She was currently standing in front of Sasuke's desk, digging into her schoolbag to hand him the notes he missed from his absence on Tuesday. He sighed in response. "Not so well, huh?" She gave a smile, despite being a bit confused.

Sasuke accepted her notes and looked up at her. "It was boring, as expected. Afterwards, I had to sit and listen to a bunch of old men compliment my father on how well I was growing up and things of that nature. It was rather annoying."

Hinata tried her best to give her most reassuring smile. "W-well, it's all over now, so you can catch a small break, right?"

"Hn." Was his reply, and that was Hinata's cue to end the conversation there. "Oh, I also saw your father."

"Ah, yes! He told me that he spoke to you there. He said that he was quite pleased with the way you –"

"**Hinat-**aaah?" Naruto came into the classroom, ready to wish Hinata a good morning but was met with the palm of her hand on his forehead. His arms were stretched out to embrace her, but he couldn't get to wrap them around her because of the glaring space between them.

This was probably the fourth time this week that she had been physically pushing Naruto away. Each time, she apologized and each time, he gave a goofy grin and said "don't worry about it." Ever since she learned about how close he and Sakura became, it was weird to have him touch her. He always asked why she pushed him away, but Hinata never had an answer for him.

This time was different. Naruto didn't ask about her actions this time.

"Am I… pushing boundaries again…?" His voice was slightly shaky, and a light blush crept onto Hinata's cheeks.

"Y-yes…"

Sasuke, who found the entire scene before him amusing, smirked. "Hm, rejected."

Naruto's eyebrows twitched and he scowled, still in his position with Hinata's palm on his forehead. "What was that?"

"Rejected," Sasuke repeated. "Refused, denied – do you always have such terrible luck with women?"

"U-Uchiha-san!" Hinata gasped, removing her hand from Naruto's forehead.

Naruto, enraged at this point, slammed his hands down onto Sasuke's desk. "Whadaya mean 'terrible luck'!? You think you know everything don't you!? I'm tired of you always –!"

"Do you always have to scream? I'm right here, you know."

"Why you…!"

And then Naruto argued with Sasuke for the rest of the time before homeroom started while Sasuke kept up his usual smirk, making snide comments here and there.

Just like old times.

(^o^)

The sound of the school bell resonated through the building, signaling that classes were over and the students would be able to have lunch. Most of Hinata's classmates piled out to have lunch elsewhere but a few stayed – one of which was Sasuke.

"Oh, you aren't leaving to have lunch?" She asked. Sasuke shook his head. A smile graced Hinata's lips. "Did you bring lunch this time?"

Sasuke's gaze hardened. "Yes." He growled. Hinata had to stifle a laugh.

"Oi Sasuke," Naruto called out in his usual raspy voice. "Sakura-chan and Ino went to go have lunch with some friends in a different class today, so it's just you and me."

The Uchiha rested his face on his hand and gave a sigh. "Oh joy."

Surprisingly, Naruto only rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Hinata. "Wanna join us?" He grinned.

"Ah… I actually um… I planned to eat lunch with a friend today, s-so I'm going to meet with them. B-but thank you." She stood up. "I'll see you later!" And with that, she left. Of course Hinata was lying. She had no friends outside of her class, she just needed to get away from Naruto.

And Naruto knew that. He pulled up a chair at Sasuke's desk and sighed.

"So, do you always scare away girls like that or what? Because she was just fine before you came over here." Sasuke pointed out. He meant to only tease him, but when Naruto's expression darkened, he guessed that it must've been a very sensitive subject. "Did something happen?"

Naruto shook his head. "No… Not that I know of." He sighed. "Ah, our relationship is sorta iffy. Some days we talk forever –"

"With you doing most of the talking, right?" Sasuke interjected.

"– and on others, she doesn't wanna talk to me at all. I don't get it. What'd I do now?"

The Uchiha pulled out his lunchbox and opened it, uttering a low "itadakimasu" before digging in with his chopsticks. Naruto did the same. "What, did you get a girlfriend while I was away?"

"It's nothing like that, we're friends… or at least I'd like to think we are."

"Hn."

There was no use talking to Sasuke about stuff like this. It was obvious that Hinata wasn't sharing her feelings with him, but if he confronted her about it, she'd probably just get startled again. Naruto remembered the last time he almost made her cry, and it wasn't something he wanted to go through with again. Maybe he'd ask Kiba about her later. After all, he and Hinata were pretty close.

(^o^)

Kiba wiped away the sweat on his forehead with his forearm and gave a sigh. The sound of sneakers squeaking and the echoing of basketballs hitting the hard wood floor filled the air. He was supposed to be practicing with everyone else, but he couldn't focus – not with Naruto's obsessive questioning about Hinata.

It was starting to piss him off. He didn't know what to say without outright telling Naruto that Hinata has had the biggest crush on him for the longest time. And if Kiba let it slip, Hinata would never forgive him.

She told him of the conversation Sakura and Ino had over the trip last month, and she was so distraught over it. Kiba hated to see her like that – in tears and stumbling over her words. He was happy that Hinata was able to make more friends but all of this seemed to be way more trouble than it was actually worth.

"So, do y'know what happened…?" Naruto asked. He slid down on the cool wooden floor next to Kiba. "She won't talk to me, so I can't ask her."

"Well… she kinda feels like…" Kiba paused, trying to find the right words. Naruto nodded, a bit on edge about his friend's hesitancy. Kiba was never one to hesitate about anything, so something must've been wrong.

Did she seriously not like him anymore and didn't know how to put it gently? Or maybe he severely hurt her feelings without knowing. Both of those situations didn't sound too far from the truth.

"She thinks you're a player!" Kiba blurted out.

Naruto's eyes widened. "A-a player!? Where the hell did she get that idea from?"

Kiba wanted to smack himself. A player? Was that the best he could come up with? Still, he decided to roll with it. "Well, yeah! She kinda thinks that you and Sakura are sort of a couple! So, it's weird to her that you're always touching her and I mean, c'mon, who wants to be that girl, right?"

He gave a nervous smile and prayed to God that Naruto would buy it.

The blond was stunned for a moment before he thought about Kiba's words. She really thought that he and Sakura were a couple? Well, it wasn't completely out there – they were close. But it wasn't a reality; that was for sure.

Naruto sighed. "We're not, and I don't think we ever will be."

Kiba, who was now released from his nervous state, stared at Naruto. He'd gone from shock to seriousness in the blink of an eye. "Oi… what's with the change of attitude?"

"You know, I thought things were really going great between me n Sakura-chan. We even had our first kiss over spring break."

If Hinata hadn't told Kiba this beforehand, he would have thought that Naruto was lying. Sakura never once showed any interest in the exuberant blond, or at least not publicly anyway, so it was hard to believe. "So, what's changed?"

"Nothing. When Sasuke came back, I could see Sakura's feelings written all over her face. Of course she still likes Sasuke, and I was stupid to forget about that. So, I decided I'd just give it up."

Kiba noted that he dropped the honorific at the end of her name when he spoke that time.

Naruto was being pretty mature about this, Kiba had to say. He always went on about someday winning her heart and promising Sasuke that he wasn't going to lose to him, but Kiba guessed that Naruto finally realized that he shouldn't trouble himself over petty things like that.

"But you know, Hinata's such a worrywart, thinking that she's getting in the way of other people's relationships." He laughed. "Thinking I'm some kind of player. I'd go over to her and set the record straight but she probably still doesn't want to be around me, huh?"

"Yeah." He confirmed. "I guess I'll let her know then."

"Thanks."

They sat in silence for a while, watching their teammates practice and play around. Naruto's eyes watched every one of Sasuke's moves on the court. He was pretty swift and had a lot of skill – Naruto could admit that.

Sasuke was actually the one who had gotten Naruto into playing basketball and they joined the team every year together. Sakura would always show her support by going to every game in middle school and Naruto always wanted to do his best in front of her, even going to great lengths to hog the ball and make all the cool shots.

But she only had eyes for Sasuke.

It was such a silly thing to envy Sasuke over, but he did. Now that he was older, maybe he could finally put all of those trivial things behind him. He told himself that it was only one girl – sure, it was the one girl he really liked for a very long time now, but nevertheless; there would be plenty more girls out there.

"So, are you over it?" Kiba asked suddenly, and Naruto's eyes never left Sasuke.

"Never said I was. I'm just putting it behind me is all."

(^o^)

"Make up… lunch?" Hinata tilted her head to the side in question.

Naruto nodded. "Mhmm! I had my mom make two lunchboxes – one for you too! It's to make up for having you think I was an awful person."

"An awful… person?" Hinata had no clue what the blond in front of her was talking about.

"Well, yeah. I know you didn't wanna tell me coz you were embarrassed n all, but Kiba cleared up everything. Man, I can't believe you really thought I was a player." He laughed.

Hinata froze. Kiba told Naruto that she thought he was a _player_!? Of course she knew that he wasn't – if Naruto and Sakura were in a relationship, Naruto would have already been screaming it on the roof of the school for everyone to know!

And her dog loving friend never thought to tell her about it! He only said "everything's fixed now" and left it at that.

Everything wasn't fixed. She knew that the boy she watched for so long was single, she had only been upset about the fact that there was no way she'd stand a chance – and there was no fixing that.

Still, Hinata had to admit, she was taken aback by Naruto's kindness towards her. He even went out of his way to give her a lunchbox over a silly misunderstanding. That's just the kind of guy Uzumaki Naruto was, after all.

"But uh… You'll have lunch with me today, right? I promise I won't push any boundaries!"

Hinata gave a small laugh. "Yes, we can have lunch together."

There was no way she could say no to that innocent smile.

* * *

"Can you believe it? I've been here forever, y'see! I've been shoppin' for my family. My feet're gonna be so sore, I tell ya!"

Hinata nodded politely, throwing in a few laughs here and there. She had gone grocery shopping for tonight's dinner and only needed one item on her list – flour. There was also this boisterous woman who also needed flour, but the shopkeepers only had one left on the shelf.

It was technically Hinata's since she picked it up first, but the woman had gone on and on about how lucky she was to get the last one so the dark haired teen ended up giving it to her. She could always make something else for her family. The woman was so grateful to her, and they spent time walking up and down the aisles of the grocery store, chatting and picking up useful items.

"Does no one else help you do the shopping?" Hinata asked. The woman waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh no. My husband and son are completely useless when it comes to stuff like this. And my son eats like an animal so I have to make sure I stock up on everything, y'see." She laughed.

Hinata giggled. She was so lively and personable. And beautiful too – what a nice woman.

"Hmm, you look fairly young. Are you in high school?" Hinata nodded. "Ah, I knew it! You're such a cutie, so I knew you just had to be a high schooler, y'know!"

She blushed. Cutie? Hinata wasn't so sure about that, but it was nice to know that someone thought she was.

"Whaaat? Don't believe me? You're plenty cute! If my son ever brought a girl like you home… I.. well, I dunno what I'd do! I'd be so happy, y'know?" She laughed. "Ah, I forgot to ask for your name."

"Oh, my name is Hyuga Hinata," she said with a small bow, "it's very nice to meet you.

Just then, the woman squealed, startling Hinata. "Ahh! And you're so polite! My son isn't like that, he's so brash."

Just how rude was this woman's son that she became delighted over the simplest of common gestures? And wait, weren't mother's supposed to gush about their sons and not talk about all of their bad points? This woman certainly was strange – but she was nice! Hinata had to remind herself that this woman was definitely nice.

After the two of them paid for their groceries, they seemed to be walking the same way so they began to engage in some more chitchat.

"He was such a crybaby, I never got any sleep!" The woman laughed.

"Hey, Ma!" A voice called out. The two of them turned around to see a blond boy running towards them, and Hinata froze. Did he just say "Ma?"

The woman waved. "Yaho Naruto!"

When he finally caught up to them, he realized that Hinata was actually standing next to his mother. "Oi, Hinata, how come you're here?"

"Eh? You know Hinata-chan?"

Naruto flashed a cheesy grin. "Of course! We're friends and we're also in the same class!"

Kushina's eyes seemed to sparkle, and she turned to face her son's friend. "Ahh! Thank you so much for taking care of my Naruto! I know he can be a handful sometimes."

She gave a light nod but couldn't help herself from staring at Kushina to Naruto and then back to Kushina.

His mother chuckled. "Ah, I know what you're thinking! 'Woah, those two look nothing alike!' And we don't!" Her voice became lower and she moved closer to Hinata. "I'm cuter."

"Eh! How dare you!" Naruto cried.

It was true, they didn't look anything alike. His mother had beautiful vibrant red hair. It was straight and every strand seemed to fall in place. Naruto's unkempt mane was blond. Kushina also had these dark blue eyes while her son's were bright.

If anything, it seemed as though Naruto inherited his mother's personality. Hinata just couldn't say no to her innocent smile – it had to have run in the family.

"I actually just came from Sasuke's place," Naruto told his mother, "and I saw you so I thought I'd say hi."

"Oh, well, if you're done hanging out for the day, you should help Hinata-chan take those groceries home. She helped me out a lot today." His mother smiled.

Naruto was confused. "Eh, why?"

Slightly annoyed with her son, Kushina tried her best to knock some sense into him, smashing her fist on top of his head. "Be nice! You and your dad don't help me out so it's nice receiving help for once! I owe Hinata-chan, so I'm paying her back. Help her."

Recovering from his head collision, the blond frowned. "But, if you're the one who has to pay her back, why am I –" Naruto gave a fearful smile as his mother seemed to be glaring holes into his head. "I-I got it. C'mon Hinata, let's go."

(^o^)

"Ahh, she's so noisy sometimes. I hope she didn't talk your ear off or anything." Naruto mumbled. He was carrying most of the groceries while on their way to Hinata's home. She could only laugh. Did Naruto not know that he was a lot like his mother?

"No, it's alright. I really enjoyed her stories."

Naruto blinked. "…What stories?"

"Oh, she told me to keep them a secret."

Naruto began to whine, rubbing his shoulder against Hinata's. "That's not fair! What'd she say? It was about me, wasn't it?" Hinata laughed in response. "So, how'd she start talkin' to you? She wasn't aggressive, was she?"

She shook her head. "No, we were after the same item at the store. And she told me I was so lucky to get the last one so I ended up giving it to her. After that, she just stuck to me like glue."

The blond gave a sheepish smile. "Yup, that sounds like Ma alright."

"But, your mother is really nice – and she's so pretty too. I wouldn't mind going shopping with her again."

If Kushina could hear her words, Naruto was positive that she'd adopt Hinata right then and there and fawn over her like the daughter she never had. Even if Hinata didn't mind going shopping with his mother, he minded. Kushina would never stop talking about her if that happened!

"So, what's your mom like?" Naruto asked. He wondered if she was just as scary as his mother, or if she was anything like Neji or her father. He shuddered at the thought.

"Ah, my mother actually passed away when I was little, just a little after my sister was born." Hinata answered.

Naruto immediately felt like a horrible human being for thinking such mean things about her mother. "I'm so sorry, Hinata…"

She shook her head and gave him a warm smile. "There's no need to apologize. I was five when she passed away, but I remember so much about her. She was a very kind woman and she loved to laugh. She'd always make me cinnamon rolls too."

The fondness in which Hinata spoke about her mother made his heart stir with delight. She looked so bright and happy, recalling all the memories she and her mother made together. Her eyes looked so warm and inviting, and the smallest of laughs would escape her lips each time she told him about all the wonderful things her mother did.

Naruto couldn't imagine a world where he didn't have his mother, and yet here Hinata was – living in that world he had trouble imagining. Hinata was really a great person.

"You're a lot like your mom, Hinata." Naruto finally said. She gasped, staring at the boy next to her in shock.

"You think so?"

"Well, it's just as you said, right? She was kind and gentle and very smart – you're the same way! I'm sure your mom would be really proud to see you now!"

Hinata's face reddened slightly and she smiled. Naruto's words found their way into her heart and filled her with joy. Would her mother really be proud to see her now? Hinata had changed herself so much to fit the way she wanted to see herself – hopefully her mother could appreciate that as she watched over her.

"Thank you. That really means a lot to me."

Naruto gave a wide grin. "Haha, don't mention it."

(^o^)

"I'm back!" Naruto cried, kicking off his shoes haphazardly by the door. His face tilted upwards and he inhaled a fine scent. Whatever his mother was cooking smelled absolutely heavenly.

"Welcome back!" She called from the kitchen. Naruto stepped in, uncovering all of the pots on the stove which resulted in his hand being whacked by the wooden spoon his mother held in her hand. "You better not! Wait until dinner's ready!"

"Yeah, yeah…" He mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "So, we're having ramen tonight?"

"Mhmm, my homemade ramen and not any of that unhealthy instant crap that you insist I buy."

The blond frowned. "Cuz you and Dad always go on trips and I can't cook! And plus, they're cheap."

"Oh, so it's money you're worried about." Kushina mused, her attention focused on the stove. "Cheapskate. How're you ever gonna get a girlfriend with that attitude?"

Naruto huffed. "You don't know that! Maybe I buy the cheap stuff to save up money for presents!"

Kushina laughed. "You make it sound like you already have a girlfriend who you buy stuff for."

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Nah, not really…" If he revealed to his mother that he cleaned out his wallet for Hinata's White Day present, she'd never stop bugging him about it. "I'm going to my room for a little bit."

"Kay, I'll call you when dinner's ready."

Naruto left the kitchen, and slowly tread upstairs. Actually, he probably would have told his mother about how happy she was when he presented it to her, if Neji hadn't questioned his motives about it. He didn't want it to look like he was actively courting her or anything. Hinata just spent a lot of time and effort making a very delicious chocolate for him, and on top of that, he almost forgot to get her a present so he wanted to make sure he returned the favor wholly.

He reached the door to his room and turned the slightly cool metallic handle. When just slightly opened, the door squeaked out and it was a bit annoying to him. He'd have to get around to fixing it soon. Finally inside of his room, the blond closed his door and flopped onto his bed belly first.

Hinata actually looked really nice in the necklace earrings combination; pearls just seemed to suit her. He still had that picture of her in his phone. Was it weird to keep it? It was a little strange, since they weren't a couple or anything like that. But, he asked to see it and she showed it to him so it wasn't that bad. It probably did look that way out of context.

Suddenly, Naruto rolled to lay on his back. He never thought about what Neji had asked him until a few weeks ago – if he "liked" Hinata. Back in March when Neji asked, it was sort of a passing thought in his mind. There was a lot to like about her, and he was sure that he ticked off the reasons, but he didn't think he felt that way about her. She never really showed any interest in him anyway so he dismissed everything.

Besides, if she was so fickle with their friendship, who knows how she'd be in an actual relationship?

"Naruto! Dinner's ready! Hurry up and get down here!" His mother cried from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a sec!" The blond called back, picking himself from his bed.

Even so, Hinata was such an interesting person. He couldn't help but want to get to know her better just a bit more.

* * *

"So, let's all spend time at my summer home again! It was so much fun last year, wasn't it?" Ino beamed. She had gathered all of her friends around Hinata and Sasuke's desks (because Sasuke refused to move anywhere) to convince them to spend time together. Naruto and Kiba were very enthusiastic about it but the rest of the group seemed hesitant and Ino could sense it. "What? You guys don't wanna go?" She whined.

Shikamaru dragged out a long sigh. "I mean, I don't mind going, but you're inviting a lot of people this year. You gonna have enough room?"

The blonde winked at him. "How thoughtful of you –"

"I was being practical." He interrupted.

"BUT!" She scowled, just a bit annoyed at her friend's blunt nature. "You needn't worry about that. My dad's been renovating one of the storage rooms there. So we'll have four rooms."

Sai raised his hand slightly. "I'll go too. It was a lot of fun the last time."

Ino couldn't help but wrap her arms around him. "Yay! I got one more!"

Hinata bit down on her bottom lip after Sakura reluctantly expressed that she'd be going too. It would be awkward for her if she went somewhere with both her and Naruto – especially after what happened last year. "Um… I don't know if I should go…" She mumbled.

Ino almost looked offended. "Eh? Why!? It was a lot of fun when you came last time!"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, how come, Hinata?"

"Well, it's senior year. Not only do we have summer homework, but we have to study for college entrance exams as well as regular exams… And then there's cram school for those exams as well… And – ah! A-are you guys okay?"

Kiba, Naruto and Ino looked like they were on the verge of death. Hinata was right – if they didn't get around to studying for exams, they were sure to repeat another year.

"W-we'll just study at the summer home, right?" Naruto asked hopefully. Kiba and Ino both put an arm around Naruto's shoulders, punching their fists up in the air.

"Of course we will!" They cried in unison.

Sakura frowned. "I highly doubt that."

Shikamaru nodded. "You three'll just end up wasting everyone's time, and we'll never get around to studying."

"I don't wanna hear it from you, Shikamaru!" Ino snapped. "You've never studied for anything in your life!"

She did have a point.

"Are you gonna go too, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. Everyone remained silent to hear his answer, which annoyed him greatly.

"Do I even have a choice?" He muttered.

Of course he didn't. Naruto, Sakura and Ino wouldn't stop pestering him until he changed his mind, so declining was definitely out of the question.

Ino made some sort of delighted sound and Hinata couldn't describe what it was for the life of her. "Well if we got Sasuke to go, then no one's gonna be able to decline! Hey Choji! You're coming too, right?"

"Nope." He answered quickly, munching on some chips. "I have business to attend to."

Ino huffed, starting a little argument with him that he needed to join everyone else. Hinata watched the two of them, squinting her eyes ever so slightly. She wasn't so sure that he had any business to attend to over the vacation.

**-x-**

Hinata didn't think it was possible, but Ino had somehow roped in Neji and Shino to join them at the summer home. She invited Tenten too, but of course the martial arts specialist was quickly won over by sandy beaches and nice baths. The thought of Shino and Neji being there made her feel a little more at ease about going, but she wanted to sit this one out. However, she didn't have the heart to outright tell Ino no, so she was trying her absolute hardest to come up with an excuse – one that Ino would actually buy.

She could tell her that her father forbid her to go, but Ino was so spunky, she'd go right up to Hiashi and plead with him. Then it would slip that Hinata had never asked him in the first place and Ino would be so hurt. Hinata also thought about pretending to catch a cold a few days before the trip, but canceling last minute was really harsh – and she didn't want to fake her well being and have everyone worry about her.

Hinata drew a long sigh. "How am I supposed to decline?"

"Decline what?"

Hinata froze momentarily before turning her head to see who had spoken to her. "Oh, Choji-kun." She gave a sigh of relief. "You surprised me."

"Are you okay, Hinata? What were you murmuring about earlier?" Choji was always considerate and kind to those around him. It came as no surprise that his voice was laced with concern for her.

She gave a weak smile. "Um, can you keep a secret, Choji-kun?" He nodded.

As they walked through the empty hallways, Hinata told him that she was a little insecure going to Ino's summer home and that she wanted to decline, but she didn't know how to do so without hurting her blonde friend's feelings. Of course, she didn't tell him that being around Naruto and Sakura at the same time made her nervous – how could she? Hinata lied, saying that the number of people made her uncomfortable, and she wasn't sure if she could handle it.

"Ah, I get it. Shikamaru told me that you were always really shy, but I never believed it before since you always look so confident."

Hinata wasn't aware of the smile that tugged on the corners of her lips. Did she really look confident? This made her extremely happy to hear.

"But I believe it now, especially since you're so worried about being around all your friends. I think you should go. You don't wanna fall back into old patterns again, right? You've come so far." Even though Choji was giving her advice on something totally different, it flowed right in with what she was worried about in the first place. He was right – Hinata had come so far! She made a bunch of new friends, got closer to Naruto, and was able to laugh and smile a lot more. If she let her feelings about Naruto and Sakura's relationship continue to eat her up, then all of her hard work would have been for naught. She couldn't allow herself to return to old habits.

Hinata finally smiled. "You know what? I think you're right. I'll try my best, okay?"

Choji gave Hinata one of his warmest smiles. He looked pleased with himself, happy that he could help a friend out.

"So, what about you? How come you aren't going, Choji-kun?"

"Ah," he scratched the back of his head, "I've got some business I need to take care of."

Hinata hummed in thought for a moment. "Okay. So what's the real reason you're not going?"

The chubby teen flinched. "What do you mean, 'the real reason'? That is the real reason."

"Ino's been trying to get you to say yes all week, and even Shikamaru-kun is worried about it. Let's talk about it, okay?"

Her demeanor was so gentle, and she spoke to him in the warmest of tones. If Hinata was able to confide in him about her insecurities, he should have been able to do the same, right? She was a reasonable person, and very open-minded, so hopefully she wouldn't laugh or judge him. Choji scratched his head, attempting to collect his thoughts. Hinata remained patient, which was very reassuring for him.

"You're not the only person who feels insecure…" Choji mumbled. Hinata tilted her head to the side. Choji always seemed so confident though. Well, looks could be deceiving – she should know. He continued. "I'm afraid of going to the beach…"

"Ah, but why? Do you have a fear of water or something?" She asked, concern rising in her voice. He shook his head.

"It's… It's actually about… my weight." He muttered. Hinata hand never seen Choji so sad looking. She thought he was okay with the way he was, but apparently not. "When you go to the beach, everyone's in their swim trunks and bikinis, with their fit bodies… and then there's me. I look gross."

He ran a hand through his long brown hair and sighed. "And I've tried… I've tried so hard to lose the weight but it never works out for me. You've been able to change yourself, but for someone like me… It's impossible. I just can't do it."

So that was why Hinata never met Choji sooner. He was so worried about his weight that he declined Ino's offer to visit her summer home last year. She gave a sympathetic smile and rested a hand on one of his heaving shoulders.

"While I may not know how it feels to dislike my body, I know how it feels to dislike myself. If you can't change the part of you that you dislike so much, then we have to begin to love it."

"W-we?" He sniffled. Hinata nodded.

"For instance, your weight has nothing to do with who you are as a person. You're a wonderful person; always thoughtful and compassionate towards others. You always have everyone's best interests at heart. Large or small, you'll always be the same kind and caring Choji-kun that everyone loves to have around. I'm sure everyone else feels that way too."

"Y-you really mean that? I mean, I've been trying to cut down on snacks to try and lose weight but…"

"Of course. There's nothing wrong with your weight. If you want to eat snacks all the time then you should do whatever makes you feel happy. It's your body, isn't it? But, if you're set of losing some weight, then I'll help!"

Choji was taken aback by her kindness. His hands wiped away the tears that had rolled down his cheeks and he gave Hinata another one of his warmest smiles. "Thanks Hinata… I really appreciate it. So… What're you gonna do to help me?"

"Ah, well I'm not very great at exercising, but I can make healthy alternatives to stuff that you usually put in your lunch box."

"Eh, seriously?"

The two chatted about different lunches and healthy snacks for a while. Hinata also told Choji that if he was really uncomfortable at the beach, he could always wear a t-shirt. Choji declined, saying that it was either go big or go home, and he wanted to go to the beach in only swim trunks, just like everyone else.

(^o^)

"You're giving up on losing the weight already?" Hinata blinked.

Choji nodded. "I couldn't give up my favorite bag of chips for so long!"

He munched on a few more chips and Hinata gave a small smile. It only had been a few days since she'd been making healthy lunches for Choji but he decided that losing the weight just wasn't for him. He did reveal to her that he was practicing being more comfortable in his skin by walking around his house shirtless and making sure to stare at himself in the mirror, giving himself compliments. Choji wasn't sure if it was working, but Hinata told him to keep going at it. Being comfortable with yourself would never happen overnight.

After all, it had taken her several years to begin to love herself again.

"Oh yeah, I told Ino that I was going to her summer home this year. You should've seen how happy she was."

Hinata laughed. "Of course! One of her best friends finally agreed to hang out with her."

"Oi, Hinata."

"Yes?"

"Let's support each other when we go to the beach, okay? We'll stand by each other."

The dark haired teen nodded. And there Choji went again, being as considerate as he possibly could be – remembering that Hinata had her own set of worries too.

She and Choji were definitely more alike than she ever imagined.

* * *

And that's all for June! Next up is chapter 8, July! We're almost halfway through the story, are you all excited?

I know I am!

Thanks for reading! See you in the next one!


	8. July

Hello, hello! I'm back again with chapter 8! We've reached the halfway mark!

Can I let you in on a secret? I'm really excited to write about October and November. Typical me, to be excited about my birthday month.

Hopefully I'm not getting anyone's hopes up when I say this.

(Also, what's pretty neat is that Naruto, Ino and I all share an astrology sign!)

Again, thank you all for such lovely reviews! Reading them makes me feel good, because you all are enjoying it so much!

Okay, here it is!

* * *

**July: **Oh, Why are you so Darn Cute?

* * *

"Be careful Hinata. I don't want you to trip and fall." Neji warned. Today was Tanabata, and the festival streets were buzzing with people who spoke about their dreams and wishes they hung on bamboo trees. Ever since they were younger, Neji and Hinata always attended the festival together. When Hanabi was younger, they would take her as well. Now, the younger of the two Hyuga sisters seemed to be very popular at school, so she always went off with her friends during Tanabata. It was quite alright though – Neji didn't mind spending it with Hinata. It was one of the few chances they got to hang out together.

"I'm being careful. Jeez Neji-niisan, I'm not a little kid any mo-!" Just as Hinata said this, her sandal had hit a rock that was slightly raised on the stony road they were walking on, causing her to trip. With his quick reflexes, Neji caught her just in time before she landed face first on the festival streets and died of embarrassment. She slowly looked up at him, only to give a sheepish smile with her cheeks as rosy as ever. Her cousin didn't look too pleased with her.

"You were saying?" He asked flatly. Neji helped her up on her feet and sighed. "You really need to be more careful. I can't always be here to save you."

Hinata smiled and rested her head on her cousin's shoulder. "But you're here now!" She giggled.

"You've been hanging out with Ino a little too much, if you ask me."

Hinata thought that she hadn't been spending _enough_ time with Ino, if you asked her. They only got to have lunch just a few times here and there but they hadn't really spent time one on one outside of school. She knew it was pretty last minute, but she could always text her and ask if she wanted to meet up tomorrow to go shopping for their trip.

She wanted to shop for a new swimsuit. Hinata wasn't sure if Ino was the best person to ask because her style was a bit too… _sexy_ for her tastes, but her boldness was what made Hinata contemplate asking her. Last year, Hinata wore a blue one-piece swimsuit and had a light, oversized sweater covering her as well. This year, she wanted to be just a little bolder and buy a two-piece.

"Oh yeah! It's not raining!" Hinata cried suddenly. "That means that Orihime and Hikoboshi can meet tonight!"

Neji gave a small chuckle. "Yes, I suppose they can." Hinata could be so childlike sometimes, it was adorable. The story behind Tanabata was that the weaving princess, Orihime, and the cow herder, Hikoboshi, were set up by Orihime's father to be wed. The two were so in love that Orihime never made any more clothing and Hikoboshi allowed for his cows to roam all over heaven. Angered by this, her father separated them across a river.

Orihime was devastated, and begged her father to see him again, so he granted her permission to meet with him only on the seventh day of the seventh month. However, the first time they tried to meet, she couldn't cross the river because there was no bridge. When she cried, magpies flew to her, and let her cross the river on their wings.

It is said that when it rains, the magpies don't show up, and Orihime and Hikobishi must wait another year to be together.

"I don't know if I could do it; being away from the one I love for such a long time." Hinata said thoughtfully.

"Oh, I think you can do it." Neji said.

"Oh? It is because you think I'm strong enough?"

"No," Neji smirked, "it's because of your ability to run for the hills whenever your crush is near." He teased and Hinata let out a whine.

"You're so mean!" That was only because she used to be nervous around him! Now that she and Naruto were friends, she wouldn't run away from him!

…_Too often_.

Neji gave a good-natured chuckle. "I'm only teasing you. But I've noticed that he doesn't touch you as much, and I'm more than happy about that. How did you manage to do that?"

Actually, Hinata didn't know how she managed. After the class trip, her hand always seemed to touch his forehead when he attempted to hug or touch her. Soon, it just became second nature for her to stretch her arm out to stop him and he eventually got the message.

"Well, I –"

"Oi, Hinata!" The gruffness of the voice made her heart skip a beat and she and Neji turned to see a very lively blond in his khaki shorts and orange t-shirt running towards them.

"Speak of the devil." Neji muttered before Naruto reached them. Hinata gave him a warm smile.

"I actually had to do a double take because I wasn't sure if it was you or not. You look so different – but you look really pretty in your yukata!" Naruto cried, causing his shy friend to blush.

Her yukata was a very dark purple, printed with large beige, blue and purple flowers on the bottom and sleeves of her outfit. Smaller flowers adorned the midsection, chest and shoulders. The neckline and obi were a lighter shade of purple and matched her sandals. Hinata's hair had been curled and pushed into a side ponytail while a small clip kept her bangs in place as they were swept to the side, and he could see more of her face. He noticed her lips were also kind of shiny, and concluded that she put on lip gloss.

Hinata truly was a sight for sore eyes.

"Y-you think so?" She asked, her voice hopeful. Naruto nodded. He thought that she should curl her hair more often.

"Of course!"

"Ahem!" Neji cleared his throat. "I'm here too. You do know this, right?" Naruto turned to Neji, giving a grin.

"Oh, you look pretty too, Neji."

His eye twitched. "What did you just say?"

Shifting his weight onto one leg, Naruto put his hands behind his head and his eyebrows knitted together in question. "But why're you wearing a yukata? Guys don't really wear those anymore. You must be really old-fashioned, huh Neji?"

Neji's yukata was plain, as most yukatas for males were. It was a navy blue color with a black obi tied around him.

His face became red out of embarrassment and anger and he raised his fist to hit Naruto on the top of his head. "Don't mock me Uzumaki!" He seethed.

"Neji-niisan!" Hinata cried out before shooting Naruto a concerned look and he clutched onto his head, slightly twitching from the pain. "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeahhh…" He managed to say, giving her a weak grin. "I can take a hit from Neji… any day…" he saw Neji crack his knuckles with a sinister look on his face, "but I wouldn't want to get hit every day!" Naruto added that last part hurriedly.

"Hmph." Neji grumbled before straightening his posture. "Actually Naruto, have you made your wish yet?"

Fully recovered from his injury, Naruto shook his head. "No, I only just got here."

"Ah, then we can go together. It'll be really fun!" Hinata chirped. Naruto agreed quickly and the three of them made their way to the bamboo trees, tying their wishes and other ornaments onto the branches.

The three of them chatted for a while and walked around, enjoying the atmosphere of the festival, until Hinata found that neither boy was next to her anymore, and she was in the middle of a crowd of people, all by herself.

How could this have happened? She had only turned to look at one of the street performers for a few seconds… or what felt to be only a few seconds. The yukata constricted her movements, so she couldn't quicken her pace to look for either of them and she had forgotten her cellphone back at home.

Hinata thought about going back home, but she felt a little scared to do so at night and all by herself. She'd be defenseless. Maybe it was wise to just stand in the same spot and wait. If Naruto and Neji were looking for her, it'd be difficult since she was moving. But they probably couldn't see her anyway, with the crowds of people surrounding her.

What was she going to do now?

Sighing, Hinata walked around aimlessly for a while, trying to find a spot to stand in where traffic wasn't as clustered. A large and calloused hand took hold of her wrist, and her heartbeat sped up furiously. Hinata slowly turned around and prayed that it wasn't some kind of delinquent or drunken pervert. When her eyes met his, she sighed in relief.

"I found you!" Naruto grinned. "You gotta be more careful or you'll end up being a lost child."

"I was so scared no one would find me…" She mumbled, and Naruto laughed.

"But you're so easy to pick out of a crowd since you're so pretty." Hinata's face flushed. How could he say things like that so casually? "C'mon! Neji and I agreed to meet at the gates in 15 minutes, even if we didn't find you." She nodded and the two of them continued to walk in silence until Naruto broke it.

"So, what'd you wish for?"

Hinata smiled. "I wished that I would grow closer to you all, and that I would find something that I loved to do in the future."

He gave her a smile of support. Last summer, she did tell him that she didn't know what she wanted to do in life. He wasn't too worried about her though. Hinata was a smart girl, she'd figure out what she wanted to do eventually. And when she talked about her future, she looked hopeful, unlike last time when she was in despair. "I believe in you, Hinata. You'll figure it out, I'm sure of it."

She gave a small nod, feeling pretty at ease by Naruto's encouraging words. "So, what did you wish for, Naruto-kun?"

He looked down at her face and she looked genuinely curious about his wish. He scratched the back of his head momentarily, debating if his wish would be a little strange. He didn't want to scare her off or anything. "Well, I wished that I would get to know more about you, y'know?"

She blinked, pointing a finger at herself. "M-me?" Naruto nodded. "Are you lying?"

He shook his head quickly. "Why would I lie about something like that?" She shrugged her shoulders pathetically and he sighed. "I really do mean it. Every time I think I know enough, you always surprise me and I always wanna find out more, y'know? This isn't weird or anything, is it?"

Hinata couldn't fight the small smile adorning her lips. Naruto was embarrassed – and it was so cute! She gave a laugh and shook her head lightly. "No, it's not weird at all. But, I am very flattered that your wish was about me."

Flattered was an understatement! She was on cloud nine – in a state of bliss! The boy whom she admired for so long and gave all of her love to made a wish to the heavens to know more about _her_. Hinata was sure that she had died and was no longer on earth anymore.

Feeling more at ease by Hinata's explanation, Naruto took on his usual grin. "Don't mention it! That means you have to tell me everything, and don't hold back! I wanna hear all the stories; even the embarrassing ones!"

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata pouted.

The two made it back to the gate where they didn't have to wait very long for Neji, who appeared to be a nervous wreck. Yes, Hinata was lightly scolded, but that didn't matter in the slightest. Tonight, she was in a state of bliss, and nothing was going to change that for her.

* * *

"Take that, Forehead!" Ino cried, hitting a beach ball with great force right towards her pink haired friend.

"Right back at you, Pig!" Sakura called back, returning the ball with even greater force. The two _were_ playing a friendly game of catch with the beach ball at one point, but now a competition was underway, and Tenten had somehow gotten roped in to being the referee and making sure that the two girls didn't kill each other. As soon as they had gotten to Ino's summer home, Naruto, Kiba and Ino had shed their clothes off in front of everyone, revealing the swim attire they had on underneath it.

Sakura had suggested that they study first and play later, and Hinata seconded that notion. The vote was seven to five due to an unexpected betrayal by Shikamaru, who said he wanted to laze around on the beach and Shino, who really wanted to play. They should have seen it coming from a mile away, but Hinata would have hoped that they would be able to see reason in studying first.

Sadly, that wasn't the case.

Hinata sat on a beach blanket with a large umbrella providing her with shade. Everyone's belongings had been placed there as they were out and about playing. Naruto and Kiba were running around the beach together… most likely just goofing off. Neji and Shikamaru were sunbathing while Choji sat next to him, eating some snacks. He was a little uneasy about going to the beach at first, but he looked more comfortable as time progressed.

Sai and Shino were sitting together having a conversation. They were ways away from her so she couldn't hear them.

And Sasuke…

"I'm sitting here." He announced, taking a seat next to Hinata on the beach blanket.

Well, Sasuke just kind of appeared out of nowhere. She was just about to tell herself that she didn't see him anywhere either. Hinata didn't really know what to say to him. He didn't ask if he could sit next to her, and she wasn't going to oppose him so she just nodded as they watched the rest of their friends have fun.

"Are you attending the party next month?" Hinata asked after moments of silence between them.

Sasuke grunted. "You shouldn't even have to ask. I'm always told to attend those kinds of things." Hinata responded with an "oh" before it grew quiet again, save for the yelling of Naruto and Kiba, not too far from them. "It's at your estate, isn't it?"

She nodded. Her father had been planning this event for months. All of his business partners would be attending so their home would be packed. The servants would busy too, bustling in and out of the kitchen to make sure everything was perfect, or else her father would have their heads. "Well, if you're there, I won't have to talk to any of the other sons and daughters of business men attending."

While Hinata did promise herself that she would be more outgoing and make more friends, she did _not_ want to make "friends" with the children of her father's business partners. Not only were a few of them quite stuck up and rude – but her father wanted to force those connections onto her because he thought that they were useful. She didn't want to have friends only to use them for climbing up the business ladder. She wanted friends like the ones she had now – ones who cared about her health and loved her for her true self.

Sure, Sasuke was the son of the man her father was in business with, but before they shared that moment over the school trip, she wanted nothing to do with him either. Now they were… Were they friends? She didn't know. "Um, Uchiha-san?"

"Hn."

"Are we… friends?"

Sasuke was beyond baffled. They had only spoken here and there, and she was asking if they were friends? Maybe it did make a little sense. Ever since their talk in May, the Uchiha sort of found himself drawn to the Hyuga girl. He sat next to her in class, so he was always used to her presence. Even when classes weren't in session, he found himself standing next to her. They just understood each other on a level that Naruto and Sakura didn't, so it was nice to talk to her from time to time.

Finally coming up with his answer, he gave a slight nod. "Sure." Her eyes widened with shock before she gave him the warmest of smiles. He didn't think that he ever saw her look that way before, but it suited her. "Don't be weird about it and make faces like that." He said coolly.

She giggled and turned her head away from him, placing her hands over her lips. "Hehe, Uchiha-san is embarrassed."

An uncharacteristic blush lightly dusted Sasuke's cheeks and he scowled. "Don't say stuff like that, it's annoying." He was able to calm down some before speaking again. "Why'd you ask anyway?"

"Oh, I was just curious-"

"Sasuke!"

"Oh no." Sasuke murmured.

Naruto ran up to them with a ball in his hands. "We're playing volley ball and we need the teams to be even! Come play with us!"

The Uchiha shot his blond friend a sharp glare. "You can see that Hyuga and I are having a conversation, right? Go away."

"But you're welcome to sit and talk with us, if you'd like!" Hinata added hurriedly, and Sasuke shifted his glare towards her.

"Don't invite him into _our_ conversation. If he wants to talk to you, he can do it later."

Naruto huffed. "Fine! Be that way, you asshole!" And then he stormed off, causing Hinata to look slightly disappointed.

Stupid Sasuke; he rather just sit there and chat it up with Hinata all day than hang out with him. It also didn't go unnoticed that both she and Sasuke seemed to be enjoying themselves. Since when did they get all buddy-buddy? Naruto stalked off to play volleyball with everyone else – that's when an idea struck him and he smirked mischievously to himself.

(^o^)

"Oi, Naruto!" Shikamaru called out, not even looking behind him. "You serving or what?" He and Shikamaru were on the same team, playing against Neji and Kiba.

"Yeah, hurry it up!" Kiba taunted.

Naruto licked his lips in concentration, trying to get the perfect angle so he could serve the ball as hard as he could. "This is gonna be so good." He muttered under his breath. He took a light running start, tossing the volley ball up in the air. His right arm went back far behind his head, building up enough power to hit it as far and as hard as he possibly could. His muscles tensed, and when his hand finally connected with the ball it created a loud smacking sound before whizzing right past Neji and Kiba, who stood there dumbfounded.

Everything happened so quickly. At one point, Hinata and Sasuke were talking about their hobbies, and she was thoroughly enjoying how interested he looked while talking about it. Well, to anyone else, he looked as stoic as always, but Hinata and her heart-reading eyes saw his dark eyes grow just a tiny bit brighter and the slight up curve at the corner of his lips. It wasn't a smirk – more like a slight twitch that he was fighting off before it became a smile.

Then the next moment, just as he was telling her about how he got Naruto to join the team, a white blur hit Sasuke in the back of his head, and his face fell right into the sand as Hinata gasped in horror. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and her mouth was ajar.

"U-U-Uchi…ha…-san…?" She called his name shakily. At the sound of a pair of footsteps running towards them, Hinata turned around quickly to see her blond crush.

But he didn't look as mortified as she did. "Haha. Sorry about that. The match was pretty heated. Say, can we have our ball back?"

Suddenly, the Uchiha ascended from the ground slowly, the ball in his hand. The shine that his eyes held were no more, and they looked even more soulless than usual. "I want to play now."

Naruto smirked. Mission complete. "Sure, I guess. Let's go then. See ya, Hinata!" Naruto waved. She waved back and watched the two walk back to the net. Hinata would never understand Naruto and Sasuke's friendship. She concluded that she didn't want to understand it.

She turned away from them and gave a sigh. Boys were so strange.

"Uh, hey… Hinata?" Hinata looked up to see her pink haired classmate giving her a slightly awkward smile. She had a beach ball tucked underneath her right arm. "I was wondering if you wanted to come play with us in the water. It'll be fun!"

As encouraging as Sakura was trying to sound, it sounded like she was the one who needed extra encouraging. Hinata gave her most reassuring smile. "As long as you and Ino promise not to get into rivalry matches while we play." She joked.

It was then that Sakura truly smiled. "Of course! But you better watch out tonight. I still owe you from our pillow fight two months ago."

Hinata stood up, donning a look of determination on her face, although to Sakura, it just looked like a very cute pout. "Then, I'll be waiting, Haruno-san!"

"Ah, Sakura's just fine!"

"Sakura…-chan?"

"Even better! C'mon!" She laughed, pulling Hinata towards the water with her.

(^o^)

The match between team Uzumaki (Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji) and team Uchiha (Sasuke, Neji and Kiba) was a fearsome one. It was so heated that Shino became the referee to stop any attempts at cheating. Sai was in charge of displaying the score on his sketchpad. Right now, the two teams were tied, and tired from the work they put into beating each other. Sweat and sand clung to their bodies and their breathing became more rapid with each movement of their arms and legs.

Naruto wiped some sweat from his forehead before looking over at the ocean, just dying to take a step into the cool water. That was when he noticed the girls playing around in the water – throwing their multi-colored beach ball around or splashing each other.

He had to say, Hinata looked really cute in her swimsuit. It was white – innocent looking, but not too modest. The bikini top seemed to do a good job of making sure nothing spilled out. Naruto thought that it must have taken her ages to find something like that. Hinata wasn't exactly small. For her bottoms, it was a really short skirt with built in bikini bottoms. He could tell because every time she bent over to splash someone, they would show.

_Her butt's really cute._

From the glimpses he caught of it while she bent over, it was round and soft looking. Then Naruto quickly discarded his thoughts with a light blush on his cheeks as he realized that he was gazing at her for way longer than he should have and felt a little strange about it. This was cute, innocent Hyuga Hinata and he felt really dirty looking at her that way.

Then, as if God did so himself to punish him for ogling a girl, a great force hit Naruto on the side of his face, knocking him onto the ground. He was in a daze momentarily, before getting up to glare daggers into his so called best friend.

"What the hell was that for!?" He cried.

"Sorry about that," Sasuke gave an impish smirk, "the match was pretty heated."

Naruto growled. "Don't gimmie that bull! You did that for no reason! I only did it cuz all your attention was on Hinata!"

"Oh really!? And yours wasn't on her just now!?"

Before they knew it, Naruto and Sasuke got into a screaming match, and the volley ball game was never finished.

* * *

"Your cheek is still red… Are you sure you're okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked in her usual soft voice. A few days had passed and the spot where Sasuke had thrown the volley ball on Naruto's cheek still hadn't cleared up. He swore he was gonna kill Sasuke – at least he was nice enough to hit him on the back of his head. Sasuke was just plain rude!

"Positive. Am I still cute?" He beamed and Hinata blushed, unsure of what to say to him. He laughed. "Now you're as red as I am! We match!"

Hinata couldn't help but let out a giggle. Naruto was always cute, but she could never tell him that to his face. She'd die of embarrassment!

Though right now, she was feeling far from embarrassed. They were together on the beach at night, sitting on a blanket and rubbing shoulders slightly. The physical contact was enough to make her feel a little awkward since they hadn't been touching much, but she liked it.

"Oi, Hinata. Can we sit together and watch the fireworks like this when Ino and the rest get back?"

This year wasn't going to be like last year… Hinata was certain! He actually wanted to be with her this time, and she was sure her heart was melting. "Yes, that would be wonderful."

"Awesome!" He cheered. Naruto didn't get to spend as much time as he would have liked with Hinata. When she wasn't with Kiba or Shino, she was with Neji. When she wasn't with Neji, she was with the girls. And when she wasn't with the girls, she was with Sasuke.

Apparently, Sasuke didn't like to share her attention and wouldn't permit anyone to sit in on their conversations – and that's if they were talking! Usually, they were just sitting there in silence.

Yesterday, when they were sitting at the table for lunch, Naruto decided to take a seat next to Hinata and talk to her for a little while. She seemed to be completely fine with their conversation, but his best friend was sitting with his elbows on the table, fingers intertwined with one another as he shot a glare at Naruto.

Of course, Naruto didn't know that he had interrupted just as soon as the Uchiha was going to inquire about something his father wanted to know.

Come to think of it, when he had heard a bit of their conversation in passing, Sasuke said something about some party. Was he having a birthday party or something? His birthday was this month too.

Nah, if Sasuke was having a party, his dad would've announced it for the whole world to attend. Besides, he hasn't had a birthday party since he was 10.

"Say, Hinata," he started, "what were you –"

"We're back!" Ino cried, with Sakura, Shikamaru and Sasuke in tow. It seemed that Ino must have worked some kind of black magic to have Shikamaru and Sasuke carry all those bags for her.

"About time!" Kiba cried.

Ino, who was slightly annoyed by Inuzuka's outburst, frowned. "Well, maybe if you came we would have gotten here a little earlier!"

"Or if you carried anything." Shikamaru grumbled. The blonde ignored him.

"We actually didn't get a lot of big fireworks because most of them were already gone. But we did buy lots of sparklers." Sakura informed them.

After setting everything up, the group sat back and let the fireworks inhabit the night sky. Since there weren't that many this year, Hinata vowed that she'd watch them until the very end – time was precious. Hinata felt something brush the tips of her fingers, but it happened so fast that she couldn't tell what it was. She looked over to find a sheepish Naruto rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to… well, I did but I remembered how you don't really like touching so I stopped."

Hinata's look of surprise turned into a smile and she shook her head. "It's okay. You um… you can if you want to…"

"Really?" Naruto asked, giving a wide grin.

She nodded. "Yes."

He took hold of her hand and the two of them watched what was left of the fireworks. Hinata relished in how nice holding his hands felt. There was a different feeling in holding his hand now than all the other times he took hold of hers. Perhaps it was because of the ongoing fireworks or because they were at a very romantic setting (with all of their friends of course.) Or maybe, just maybe, it was because Hinata had never felt so close to Naruto than ever before.

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought.

When the fireworks were finished, he released the grip on her hand. To say that she wasn't a little disappointed would be a lie but she couldn't be greedy. Holding hands with Naruto was probably the biggest highlight of her trip.

"Hey," Naruto started, "wanna go get some sparklers now?"

And just like children, the two of them ran after each other, spinning their sparklers round and around.

(^o^)

"Oi, Sakura." Naruto called, sticking his hand out by the side of her face.

"Wha –"

_Splat!_

When she turned to look at him, her cheek collided with his hand, and a cool sensation hit her. It smelled very sweet. Sakura touched the side of her face to inspect the white substance for a moment. Whipped cream?

Naruto gave a loud cackle before running around the living room with Sakura hot on his tail.

"Get back here you jackass!" she shouted.

"Does he have a death wish or something?" Shikamaru groaned. "How troublesome."

The rest watched as Sakura chased Naruto up the stairs and into the room the girls were staying in. Shikamaru noted that Naruto had ducked to get in. But for some reason, Sakura stopped to let out a muffled shriek and something that sounded like "Ino-pig, you bitch."

Then Ino immerged from the doorway with clear masking tape in her hand. "Haha, Naruto we got her!" She laughed, and they high-fived as their pink haired friend tore her face away from the tape.

"**I'm gonna kill you both!**" She roared.

The three of them stayed up there, while Sakura chewed them out. Little did Sakura know that Sai was in the room too and took a few pictures of her while hiding behind the curtains. Though, Sai thought it would be wise to stay hidden just a little bit longer.

"They're all children." Sasuke muttered.

"Ehh… But it looks kind of fun…" Hinata said quietly. If Neji didn't know any better, he'd say that she sounded slightly in awe.

"Don't even try it, Hinata." Neji frowned. "They're both trouble makers."

Tenten laughed. "Neji's just bitter about the time me and some other members of the martial arts club got him real good!" Neji turned his head violently towards her and he looked as if he were ready to throttle her. She didn't seem to get the message. "Don't you remember when we – Mmph!"

He slapped a hand on her mouth. "I thought we agreed to never speak of that again."

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "Eh? But I want to hear about it."

"Yeah, me too!" Kiba cried.

"I'd also like to hear about it because –" Shino started.

"I said no!" Sighing, Neji took his hand off of Tenten's mouth who could finally breath properly again. "You know what? Fine, tell them."

Tenten beamed. "Okay! So in our freshman year, we –"

"Only if I get to tell them about the time in the third grade where you –"

"Ahhhh!" She cried over Neji's voice. "You aren't supposed to talk about that!"

"Wait, talk about what? What happened back then?" Choji asked.

"Nothing happened!"

"Are we telling funny childhood stories now? Cause I've got one!" Kiba grinned. Hinata and Shino stiffened.

"We're not doing this!" Tenten screamed.

"I have one." Sasuke muttered, and the room became dead silent, aside from Sakura's distant yelling.

Everyone's eyes darted curiously from one another and then back to the ever so stoic Uchiha. "Let's pick on people who aren't here to defend themselves. Back in kindergarten…"

_"__And these are where we keep the horses and ponies," The old farmer told the little group of children. He had been explaining what the horses jobs were on the farm and talked about what they ate and so on._

_Sasuke listened intently while his blond friend seemed to be fidgeting around, unable to pay attention._

_"__Oi, old man! Old man!" Naruto suddenly cried. His teacher was about to scold him, but the farmer stopped her from doing so._

_"__It's alright. I don't get asked many questions. What is it little one?"_

_Naruto crouched down, and seemed to be poking something underneath one of the younger horses. "What's this weird long thing under the horse?"_

"No way!" Kiba cried in a fit of laughter. "Naruto touched the horse's – _pffffft_! Ahahaha!"

The room was in a fit of laughter and Hinata was in tears, snorting here and there.

While trying to compose himself, Shikamaru spoke up. "Actually, in the first grade, Ino wanted me to play with her…"

_"__Shikamaru-kun! Let's play pretend!" Ino grinned._

_"__No. Sounds troublesome."_

_She huffed. "Hmph! I wasn't asking!" The blonde grabbed hold of his hand, pulling him towards the jungle gym. The two of them had climbed all the way to the top, and she declared that she was the royal princess; taking control over the entire playground. _

_"__I don't wanna be your prince." He grumbled._

_"__Good! I don't want you to be either! You'll be my royal servant!"_

_Shikamaru begrudgingly went with it, and the two played for an hour until Shikamaru climbed down, saying that dinner would be ready soon, and his mother would kill him if he showed up late._

_"__Wait!" Ino cried. Shikamaru frowned._

_"__Hurry up and get down."_

_Silence._

_"__You can't climb back down, can you?"_

"Typical Ino." Neji muttered, and Hinata giggled.

"But that isn't even the best part," Shikamaru continued.

_Ino sniffled. "Shikamaru-kun…"_

_"__What am I supposed to do about it?"_

_"__I have to pee…"_

_He cringed. "Seriously?"_

_"__What do I doooo?" She whined. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes._

_"__Then pee." He shrugged._

_"__I can't do that!"_

_Shikamaru turned his head away from her. "Then you're gonna pee your panties." _

_She shrieked and shook her head violently. "I definitely don't want that!"_

_"__So then take them off and pee. I'll even turn around."_

"No wonder the jungle gym had such a weird smell on it the next day…" Shino thought out loud, and the rest of the group gave a good laugh. Hinata was thankful that she never played on the jungle gym as a child.

"To this day, Ino has never touched a single jungle gym." Shikamaru smirked.

Suddenly, the door to the girls' room opened and Ino poked her head out. "Hey, what're you all laughing about?"

Kiba snickered. "Don't mind, piss panties."

At first, Ino was very confused about the insult but after seeing the smirk on Shikamaru's face, she flushed red and stormed downstairs. "**I can't believe you! You backstabber! And ****_I_**** have the big mouth!? You good for nothing –!**"

Ino went on and on, shaking Shikamaru by his shoulders as the rest came downstairs to see what Ino was yelling about this time. "Uh, did we miss something or what?" Naruto asked.

Kiba snickered and Sasuke gave a haughty smirk. "Oh, just this and that about our childhoods… and childhood _friends_."

"Horse dick." Kiba mumbled.

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata hissed, but the corners of her lips were twitching into a smile.

Naruto screamed in horror. "You asshole! You told everyone about that!?" Sasuke gave a low "heh" as a response. "Why you…! Fine! Two can play at this game!"

Then, Naruto began to tell the most embarrassing story about Sasuke he could remember as he fought to get him to shut up.

Sasuke was unsuccessful.

* * *

"Good mornin' Sakura!" Naruto greeted his pink haired cheerily. As of today, all of the seniors were required to attend cram school for a few hours. It would be nice to finally study since they never got around to while on their trip.

"Oh, good morning Naruto." She smiled. Naruto took in her appearance for a moment before looking completely shocked. She was wearing the standard summer version of Konoha High School's uniform for girls; a short-sleeved sailor fuku with a black collar and red tie complete with a black pleated skirt and brown school shoes.

"Oh crap! Did we have to wear our uniform today?" Naruto asked worriedly.

A light blush hit Sakura's cheeks as she tried to take an authoritative tone. "Well, it's so that we look presentable and represent our school properly."

Naruto looked down at his own attire. He only wore a plain black t-shirts, a pair of shorts and some sneakers. Was he really too casual? Oh man! If word got out that Konoha High had a bunch of slackers attending it, Principal Tsunade would surely find some way to make him repeat a year – or even kick him out! As he looked up he spotted Sasuke making his way towards them. The Uchiha was in the same boat as him it seemed, since he was in a blue t-shirt and some jeans.

"Ah, Sasuke!" Naruto cried. "We need to go back home and change!"

Sakura froze as he stopped to stand next to her, facing Naruto. "What're you talking about?"

"We're not in our uniforms and we had to wear them!"

Sasuke looked at the students around them either hanging outside or walking into the building. "We didn't get a notice saying that we should wear our uniforms, and no one around us seems to be wearing theirs."

Naruto perked up at this and began to look around too. Nope. Not a single person wearing uniform.

Sasuke's eyes shifted to over to the pink haired girl next to him and a small smirk formed on his lips. "Actually, Sakura seems to be the only person wearing her school uniform."

Her face flushed and she took a slightly more aggressive stance. "Oh leave me alone! I absentmindedly put on my uniform this morning okay! You two are both here, right? Let's just go inside already!" She huffed. With that, she was already walking to the entrance of the building. Of course Naruto had to open his big mouth! And of course Sasuke had to say something about it! Later on when she saw Ino, she was sure that her blonde friend would never let her live it down. Today was already terrible and it hardly even started!

Naruto chuckled. "Sakura's embarrassed."

"Let her be." Sasuke smirked.

"Are you two coming or not? Let's go already!" Sakura cried, opening the doors to the entrance.

(^o^)

It was difficult for Hinata to focus on the math problems in front of her when a certain blond kept slipping her notes with his silly scribbles on it. There was a drawing that looked like Naruto was taking a bath in a big bowl of ramen. The next note he slipped her was a drawing of him as a ninja, throwing what appeared to be shuriken. Well, three of them looked like shuriken, the rest looked like misshapen stars. Hinata had to suppress a giggle.

Since when did ninjas wear orange?

The third note had a vanilla swirl ice-cream on it next to a question mark. Surrounding the cone looked to be drawings of all their friends. Hinata turned the paper around to draw her reply. She drew herself sitting at a desk with a book in her hands. It had taken her a little longer since she thought that she'd put to practice everything she had learned from Sai.

When she was finished, she made sure their teacher was facing the whiteboard before she handed it to him. Naruto unfolded it quietly and a look of disappointment washed over his face before he began writing something down. He slipped the note back to her. It read:

_Aw man, I got rejected? ( ; 3 ; ) _

_But you should really come. Even for a little bit. All of our friends will be there._

_We can share a cone together! ( ^o^ )_

The dark haired teen bit her lip to keep from laughing. She had never seen those kinds of faces before. The thought of sharing an ice cream cone with Naruto made her heart flutter, but it would be too embarrassing – especially in front of all their friends! Still, Naruto was too cute for words. She wrote back to him, saying that if it was for a little while, then she would join them. She also wrote that she would have to decline Naruto's offer to share ice cream together.

He smiled at her and returned to his work. She did the same. It was a lot easier to concentrate now that Naruto wasn't distracting her. However, she did catch her mind wandering a few times; thinking about what it would be like if they actually did share ice cream together.

(^o^)

"Did you _see_ our teacher in there!?" Ino cried. They were given a small break, and Ino wanted to spend it talking about their cute cram school teacher.

"Of course we saw him Ino. We were all in class." Sakura muttered.

The blonde let out a sigh of frustration. "Well no kidding! I meant _see_ him! As in his beautiful features! Oh, if I was still single I'd –"

Hinata gasped. "Ino! You've gotten a boyfriend?"

Ino waved her hand dismissively. "No, no. I was just joking. But a girl can dream, can't she?" She said wistfully.

Sakura sorted. "Yeah. You keep dreaming about Sai. Honestly, I don't know what you see in him. He's so strange, and he's rude too!"

"Oh! And I can say the same for you about – Ouch!" Ino winced, rubbing her shoulder. She was sure that Sakura's punch would leave a bruise. "What was that for?"

"It was for you not knowing when to shut your mouth!" Sakura scowled.

Hinata giggled at their antics and the two of them looked at her, a bit confused. "Uh," Sakura started, "What's so funny?"

"You two!" She laughed. "You two are like a comedic duo."

"Is that so? Well then, Sakura's the boke*** **between the two of us!" Ino grinned before she was slapped on the back of the head.

"Don't be ridiculous! You could never be a tsukkomi*****! You're always acting a fool!"

Hinata laughed once more, causing the two to look at her, slightly confused.

"There it is! Another comedy sketch. All Sakura-chan needs is a paper fan!"

Ino cupped her chin in thought. "Hmm… Do you wanna travel together and do comedy sketches together? I think we could really pull it off."

"No, I really don't. Now stop being stupid. Break's almost over." Sakura answered, with no life in her response whatsoever.

(^o^)

Today's cram school session was finally over. As planned, everyone went to get their soft serve treats. They sat on park bench and chatted for a while before Hinata and a few others had to excuse themselves.

Today, God must've been smiling down upon her, because Naruto insisted to walk her home. She could hardly pay attention to what he was even talking about – he was just too cute to handle; his bright and shining eyes; the way his lips would part when he was genuinely excited about something and gosh – the chocolate ice cream he was eating found its way onto the tip of his nose and he didn't seem to notice.

He acted like a child sometimes.

"Hinata, you're not even listening to me?" Naruto frowned.

"Ah, I am." Hinata smiled. "I was just a little distracted."

"Hmm? With what?" He asked.

She giggled and pointed to her nose. "You have a little ice cream right there."

Naruto quickly covered his nose, attempting to wipe it off. "What? Why didn't you say anything?"

"You were so excited about your story. I didn't want to interrupt you or anything."

Finally taking his and off of his nose, Naruto gave a small pout. "Well then interrupt me so I don't look like an idiot in front of you!"

Hinata ate a bit of her ice cream before opening her mouth to speak. "You never look like an idiot to me."

Naruto was slightly taken aback by this. "Seriously…? Like, not at all? Or ever?"

She shook her head. "You do silly things, but I would never say that you looked stupid." Hinata wanted to tell him that she found all the things that he does rather cute, but she wasn't very bold.

He laughed. "You're too nice Hinata!" Of course Hinata would be too scared to tell him that she thought he looked like a complete idiot most of the time. The thoughtful Hyuga was probably scared of hurting his feeling. Bless her soul.

"Oh? But I'm not being nice, I'm being truthful. I always think that…" Oh no, what was she doing? "…that you look…" Oh, no… "…really _cool_."

Sheesh! She had the chance to tell him that she thought he was cute and she blew it! However, it wasn't a total loss – Naruto looked very pleased at her words, almost to the point of smugness.

"Oh~! So I'm cool, huh? Even cooler than Sasuke?"

She blinked. How was she supposed to answer that? Yes, Naruto was a cool kid, but Sasuke was the king of cool. He was stoic, and was able to keep his cool in intense situations. He knew how to insult a man's entire being just with the narrowing of his eyes. Her blond crush was a little more goofy than anything – making silly jokes and always being loud. That's what made him so gosh darn adorable though!

"You two don't need to make everything a contest, you know." She said and Naruto shook his head in disagreement.

"Of course we have to! That's what rivals do, right? I need to beat him!"

Why did Hinata get the feeling that this was almost a one-sided rivalry? "Well, I think that you're more personable than he is and that you're a lot kinder to those around you. And you always make such wonderful and long-lasting friendships. You're an admirable person."

The warmness of her tone and the upmost sincerity she said it in made him blush lightly. No one ever told him that he was one to be admired. Stupid, maybe. Reckless, maybe. But never admirable. He turned to look away from her for a moment and Hinata was now concerned that she had said something he probably didn't want to hear.

"Um… Did I say something wrong?" She asked.

"No," he shook his head and turned to look at her when he felt that his stupid blush had gone away, "it's just… not many people say stuff about me like that. It's always stuff like 'stupid' or 'pathetic'. Never 'admirable'. So thanks for saying that. It means a lot, y'know?"

Hinata should have known. Of course all the negative things that were said to him were hurting him. Hinata never heard anyone say good things to him. She heard people say good things about him, but never to his face. Maybe they were all just too prideful to say it?

"Oh Naruto-kun," she started, "everyone thinks that way about you. I guess I'm just the only one who's bold enough to say it to you. Besides, everyone enjoys your company and thinks of you as a wonderful friend. I'm sorry that you don't get to hear it too often…"

At her words, Naruto couldn't help but throw his arms over her. "Thank you Hinata!"

"Ah! Your ice cream just hit my cheek!" She cried.

"Oh! Let me wipe it off then." He grinned.

Hinata's face reddened. "I-I can do it myself!"

The two of them continued their walk until Hinata was safely at home.

* * *

*****Just something I wanted to clear up. Boke and tsukkomi are comedic terms, meaning something along the lines of idiot/funny man and straight man respectfully. In Manzai (traditional Japanese stand-up comedy) there are usually two performers where the boke misunderstands or forgets something while the tsukkomi is more serious and sets their partner straight by explaining what their error was or slapping them on the back of the head. The jokes revolve around puns and misunderstandings mostly.

So, that's pretty much it for July! Stay tuned for chapter 9: August!

Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next one!


	9. August

Hello everyone! I should explain somethings about summer festivals (natsu matsuri) before you read. If you already know, then skip this!

Festivals are really cool in Japan, from what I hear. There's a dance called _Bon-Odori_ (Bon dance) that people do while circling around a _yagura_ (a scaffolding made for the festival). There are tons of games like _Kingyo Sukui_ (goldfish scooping) and lots of festival foods like _Takoyaki_ (fried dumpling made with octopus), _Yakisoba_ (sweet and salty noodles topped with mayo, seaweed flakes, and pickled ginger) or _Taiyaki_ (fish-shaped pastries with red-bean paste of custard filling in the middle), to name a few.

This isn't about festivals, but a word that Ino says: _Yoshi_.

She's not talking about the green dinosaur from Mario, haha. It actually means "alright" in Japanese, but I don't think the "I" at the end gets pronounced so it sounds like yosh (much like Yakisoba, I've heard it pronounced as Yaksoba). If I'm wrong, someone correct me yo!

Anyway, that's all I had to say. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

**August: **You're Nicer than you Let on

* * *

"Jeez… Every time you go to a summer festival, there's nothing but lovey-dovey couples all around you." Ino practically spat. Tonight, the four girls were out enjoying the festival together. The streets were bustling with festival goers – children running around with sweets in their hands, friends catching up with one another, and even couples who seemed to be head-over-heels in love with each other.

A small smirk played on Tenten's lips. "You sound really bitter."

"I _am_ bitter!" She cried.

"Then why'd you invite us for a _girl's_ night out?" Sakura asked, unimpressed by her best friend's usual antics.

The blond gave a wistful sigh. Her posture had slumped and her eyes looked as jaded as ever. "Well, none of us have boyfriends, right? Why not be lonely together?"

Sakura's eye twitched and she curled her lips up in slight disgust. "You're… kind of scary when you're miserable, you know."

Hinata played with the sleeve of her yukata for a moment before shooting a glance at Ino. "Are you… having boy problems?" She asked in her usual soft voice and Yamanaka pouted.

"I asked Sai to come to the festival with me but he said he was going with someone else!" She whined. "I need to find out who this girl is!"

Her pink haired friend gave her an incredulous look before practically foaming at the mouth in rage. "You invited us here to help you _stalk_ Sai and his date!? Are you out of your mind!?"

Tenten gave a small laugh. "Don't mind Sakura. We can be detectives – I love a good investigation."

"N-no, Tenten, you're kind of missing the point…" She tried reasoning. "Besides, how're we supposed to find him anyway? It's kind of crowded and –"

"There he is; straight ahead!" Hinata informed them.

Sakura was flabbergasted. "Not you too Hinata!"

"He's turning the corner now! You'll have to be quick! It's now or never!" Tenten cried.

"Yoshi! I've gotta run after them!" Ino's face took on a look of determination as she balled up her fists.

"And how are you supposed to run in your yukata!?" Sakura cried.

Suddenly, Ino stretched her arms out to her side, but the look of determination never left her face. "Someone untie my obi!"

"**Get a grip!**"

(^o^)

"Sheesh," Sakura grumbled. "You are so impulsive. And who would have tied your obi again if you undid it? I don't know how to tie one."

"Oh," Hinata piped up, "I do!"

Ino shot a haughty look towards Sakura who rolled her eyes. "Did your mom teach you or something?" Ino asked.

She shook her head. "No, Neji-niisan did. He even tied mine for me tonight!" She spun around revealing a very intricate and perfectly tied knot. The girls stared in awe until Hinata turned around, looking quite pleased.

"Let me marry Neji!" Ino cried.

"Weren't you just ready to take off your obi for Sai a few moments ago?" Sakura questioned, folding her arms in annoyance. Ino only made a face at her.

"Ah, look! Kingyo Sukui!" Hinata smiled. "Can we play it?"

Sakura smiled. "I think it'll be a good idea. Let's try it."

Ino had whined about losing sight of their mission but Sakura slowly talked her out of it; saying that there would be other chances to talk to Sai, and that they'd never catch up to him in their constricting outfits anyway. The blonde begrudgingly agreed, and watched as the rest of her friends attempted to scoop up goldfish on the flat paper nets they were given.

"Cha! I caught one!" Sakura cried, punching her fist in the air. However, the paper had dissolved and the fish landed back into the water with a "plop". Hinata let out small giggle at her friend's failed attempt to catch her small, slippery companion. "Ah crap… I lost it." She grumbled. Her eyes caught sight of something extremely close to her face and plastic looking.

"Here," Tenten grinned, holding up the plastic bag with her goldfish in it, "you can have it. I'm not too great with keeping pets anyway."

Graciously accepting the bag, Sakura gave a sheepish smile. "I guess I owe you one, huh?"

"Takoyaki would be nice." She winked.

"Yeah… Snacks would be nice. Come on Hina – Hinata?" Ino called out, before peering over her shy friend's shoulder. The Hyuga was crouched down, focused solely on the little fish before her, swimming around in circles. When it stopped, Hinata reached out with her net to pick it up, being mindful not to leave the net in water for too long so it wouldn't dissolve.

When she caught it, Hinata quickly slipped it into the tin bowl next to her. Her free hand balled up into a fist, and her eyes lit up as a small smile graced her lips. "Yatta!" She quietly cheered.

"Ehh, you actually caught it. You need to have so much patience with this game; I can't do it." Ino mumbled. After Hinata receiver her plastic bag with her fish in it, the four of them stopped at a few stands selling food. Tenten got her takoyaki first, then Sakura got a bunch of candies – especially ones coated in syrup. Hinata and Ino were receiving their taiyaki before hearing muffled voices calling out to them.

When they turned to look, three men had been running towards them at top speed in goofy cartoon character masks. Hinata and Ino gave terrified shrieks while Tenten and Sakura stood in front of their friends, taking aggressive stances.

"Woah, woah, woah!" The man who seemed to be the leader of his group cried, slowing his pace just before he reached the girls. "Calm down! It's just us!" He cried, sliding his red Power Ranger mask to the side of his face. Sakura took in all of the features of his face; bright shining blue eyes, a nicely shaped jawline, whisker birthmarks.

"Naruto!?" She cried, relaxing her posture. He grinned. "You can't do creepy stuff like that and expect us to be calm about it you idiot!" Hinata and Ino peered out from behind Sakura and Tenten respectively before a look of relief washed over them. The other two boys finally reached them, pulling off their masks.

"Kiba-kun?" Hinata tilted her head to the side.

"Sai!" Ino cried pointing an accusing finger at him. He only replied with a small "hello" and smiled. "Wait, what're you all doing here?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed at her. "Enjoying the festival, duh! Why else would be here?" The blonde huffed and Kiba's voice took on his normal tone. "Sai wanted to have a guy's night out, and Naruto suggested having one at the festival."

Naruto nodded before placing his arms on the back of his head. "Mhmm. We saw you guys and we thought we'd say hi. Sasuke and Shikamaru are here too, but they didn't wanna run all the way over here so they're on their way."

The girls stared at Naruto before shifting their gaze to Ino who was innocently whistling a tune and failing miserably at it. Slowly, Sakura's hand snaked behind Tenten to slap Ino on the back of the head. The slap had been so hard that Ino barely caught her balance again. "Dumbass." Sakura mumbled under her breath while Hinata and Tenten laughed.

"I don't understand what's going on…" Kiba muttered.

"Yeah, me neither." Naruto shrugged. "Hey, since we're all here, wanna play some games?"

(^o^)

The fox stuffed animal was so adorable. It had cute little whiskers and its eyes were closed. There were pink hues on its cheeks and it had the most mischievous of grins on its face. Hinata wanted it so badly, but she was having trouble shooting it. Yes, it was perched on top of one of the shelves in a booth they all passed by. The man running the booth said that if she was able to use the gun and shoot something down, the prize would be hers. She spent 500 yen so far, and wasn't able to get a thing while the rest of her friends were shooting things left and right.

"Need help?" Naruto grinned. Hinata gave a sheepish smile and nodded. "Which one do you want?"

Her index finger pointed to the orange fox on one of the middle shelves and Naruto grinned. "That's easy! I'll show you how to do it!"

Hinata's heart was practically pounding out of her chest by how close they were. He stood behind her, helping her position the toy rifle properly. Both of his hands were holding hers; one at the bottom of the rifle and the other near the trigger. "Relax your shoulders a little." His voice was low and husky. His breath tickled her ear and she just couldn't fight the blush that made its way onto her cheeks.

He gave a low chuckle. "Am I making you nervous? I'll give you some space if you want."

She didn't want him to give her space. She wanted to stay like this as long as possible and listen to the hushed gruffness of his voice so close to her ear. Hinata bit her glossed lip before shaking her head.

Naruto was a bit surprised to hear that she was okay with him so close to her, and let out the smallest of laughs. "Okay. Are you ready?" She gave him the okay, and he moved her finger on the trigger after aiming for the fox. On their first try, the cork only slightly grazed the stuffed animal on the side of its face. The second; she had gotten a little too anxious with how close they were and involuntarily jerked her arm as they pulled the trigger and the cork shot the ear of the fox.

The third time, they hit the fox right in the middle of its forehead, shooting it down from the shelf it sat on. The prize keeper handed it to her and she held it in her arms before giving it a cuddle. "Ah, it's so cute! Thank you so much, Naruto-kun!"

Her smile was as bright as ever and she did that thing with her hair that he liked so much – she curled it. The blood rushed to his cheeks at the sight of how cute she was; cuddling a stuffed animal, giving him that warm smile that she always gave him. He was able to pass his reaction to her off as sheepishness as she began to compliment his shooting skills. "Ah, don't mention it!" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "What're you gonna name it?"

Name it? She hadn't thought about that. Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know actually… Do you have a name for it?"

"Hmm," he hummed in thought, "I think you should name it Kurama!"

Hinata tilted her head to the side in question. "Eh? Whys that?"

"Cuz, there's this show that me and my dad would watch, and this one guy is like human, but he can turn into this demon fox and controls plants – it's really cool!" For a while, Naruto went on about this show, causing Hinata to giggle. He frowned. "What's so funny? Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not, I'm not!" She laughed. "It's just nice to see you talk about things that you enjoy. Your enthusiasm kind of rubs off on me."

Naruto stared at the Hyuga girl in front of him before he looked away to hide his embarrassment and scratched his cheek with his index finger. "Don't say stuff like that… It's weird."

Hinata's face truly flushed at that point. Was she being a little too bold? "I-I… I didn't mean -!"

"I'm kidding!" He laughed. She pouted.

"Jeez, Naruto-kun!"

Throughout the rest of the night, Naruto teased and chatted mainly with Hinata. If Hinata didn't know any better, she would think that he was flirting with her. His actions didn't go unnoticed by Sakura, who felt just a small twinge in her heart.

* * *

"Yes. Please, take care." Hinata waved at the old woman whom she helped cross the street. When the woman was gone, Hinata checked the time on her phone; 12:30. Today had been a slow day. She spent her morning studying, cleaning, and trying on different dresses for the upcoming party in two weeks. Being around the servants while trying to study had been more taxing on her than she thought.

That's why she was on this walk – to finally catch a breather from the stress inhabiting her home.

But, walking alone was kind of boring. Being alone with her thoughts was even worse, since she was kind of stressing herself out with the thought of exams and the upcoming party. Hinata thought that she'd call Ino to see if she was busy, but a familiar figure just across the street caught her attention.

"Ah! Karin!" Hinata cried, waving her down with her right hand. Her redheaded schoolmate looked up from her cellphone and waved back. She looked both ways before jogging across the street to meet with her.

"Yaho!" She greeted. Hinata looked down to see that she was carrying some sort of plastic box with holes in it in her right hand.

"Um, what's that?" Hinata asked.

Karin looked down at the carrying cage before giving a small grin. "Oh, this? Tojo-baachan is in here. I took her to the vet earlier. I just got off the train not too long ago, so I'm heading back home with her."

"Oh, that sounds lovely. I wish I could see her in person." One of Tojo's paws pushed out of a hole in the carrying cage and gave a lazy meow.

Karin snickered. "Lazy old hag. Since you wanna see her, you can come to my place then."

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "Oh, are you sure? I don't want to intrude or anything…"

The glasses-clad teen waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, it's fine. Besides, having company over is a nice change of pace."

Her tone of voice seemed to fall in enthusiasm at that point. Did Karin not have many visitors over? How terrible. Hinata decided that she would visit Karin's home. It was a little strange; they hadn't really spoken much, just a few times here and there in June, so going over to her house felt a bit rushed. But Karin was a very forward person, so maybe it wasn't too weird for her.

"So, I hear Sasuke-kun's going to your house for a party." She spoke suddenly as the two walked to her home. Hinata let out a small gasp.

"H-how did you know about that?" Hinata asked, confused as to how Karin knew that information. I wasn't as if Hinata was keeping it a secret or anything, but she definitely wasn't shouting it out to the entire school.

Karin laughed. "Oh, Sasuke-kun told me himself."

What?

Sasuke actually told Karin? "Uh… Are you two friends or something?"

She nodded. "Mhmm. Me, him and a few other friends hang out at lunch in my classroom or after school sometimes."

So that's where Sasuke took off when he wasn't with Naruto and Sakura. Hinata didn't know they were so close, but she thought that maybe that was the reason why Sasuke didn't run for the hills whenever she came to flirt with him – because they were friends. Well, that and he must've been used to all of the flirting by now.

Karin spoke up again, breaking Hinata away from her thoughts. "You must be an interesting person for him to talk about you."

Sasuke actually talks about her? He hardly talks to anyone unless he's badmouthing someone. Hopefully he wasn't saying terrible things about her. "What does he say?" Hinata asked.

"At first, he only said that you were the daughter of his dad's business partner, so he had to be on his best behavior with you." Well, he certainly didn't act like he was being on his best behavior when she first spoke to him. Hinata nodded as Karin continued on. "Now he thinks you're a total cutie."

Hinata gave a jaded look. "Please don't lie to me…"

Karin chuckled. "Wow, no reaction from you at all. You're really funny. But he did tell me just the other day that you're not so bad to be around."

Not so bad? Hinata guessed that Sasuke's pride wouldn't allow him to admit to anyone that they were friends. Still, she'd take whatever compliment – if you could call it that – she could get from the Uchiha.

"I'm flattered." She spoke in a dull tone.

"Ah, there's my house."

(^o^)

The house was small. When they stepped into the living room, there was a small brown couch that sat up against one of the green walls. A small table was placed in the center of the room and there was a television stand not too far from it. What really made the place lively were the two cats; Kyo and Ryo who scurried up to their owner with loud meows.

"They must be hungry since they don't usually greet me like this." Karin grinned. She set down the carrying cage and opened the small door. Tojo leaped out as soon as she saw her exit and hissed at her owner before trotting off into her usual corner. "Don't hiss at me you old hag! She's still annoyed at me for putting her in the cage."

Hinata gazed down at Karin's arms. Some of the markings looked fresh. "Did she scratch you up today?"

"Yeah. I was fighting to get her in the cage this morning. I was almost late for the appointment, so I didn't get time to clean them." She said, staring at the marks on her arm.

The dark haired teen frowned. "Ah, well at least let me clean them for you! They might get infected!"

The redhead looked at her arm once more before returning her gaze to her guest. "Sure, if you want to."

Now, Karin didn't consider hosting as her forte, but she was sure that she was terrible at it. Hinata not only cleaned and bandaged her cuts, but she also fed the cats and was currently in the kitchen preparing tea for them. Although she tried to protest, the Hyuga was adamant on doing everything because she was "intruding." Now Karin sort of felt useless just sitting in front of the fan, taking up space and letting a guest go all the work for her.

"Karin," the Hyuga called out from the kitchen, causing her to perk up, "where do you keep your bread? I'd like to make some sandwiches."

Was this girl sent from God? "Uh, it's in the shelf closest to the stove." This was a good thing. Karin hadn't eaten lunch yet anyway. A few moments later, Hinata emerged from the kitchen with a tray of tea and sandwiches.

"It isn't much, but I hope you enjoy it." As soon as she placed the tray onto the table, Karin uttered a quick "itadakimasu" before stuffing a part of the sandwich in in her mouth. A sound of muffled delight escaped her lips.

"Ahh, you'll make a good wife someday!" She cried, and I hint of red made its way across her cheeks. It wasn't the first time she had heard that compliment, but she hoped that it would be true in the future. She could just imagine being able to cook warm meals for her husband everyday – maybe they could even cook together. Then the image of a certain blond boy popped into her mind and she lightly shook her head.

Just then, something fuzzy rubbed up against her leg, making her shiver. Hinata looked down to find the cute orange tabby purring as he snuggled up against her. Karin grinned.

"Oh, Kyo. Did you find a girlfriend?" Kyo meowed in response before curling up next to the quiet Hyuga. "It looks like he kinda likes you."

Hinata gave a soft smile. "Oh yeah, there was something I wanted to ask you about."

"And what's that?"

"If you and Sasuke-kun are so close, why do you always fight with Sakura-chan over him?"

Karin took a sip of her tea before shrugging nonchalantly. "Sasuke-kun is really good looking, don't you think?"

Was that a rhetorical question or did Karin really want Hinata to answer that? Well, yes. Sasuke was a good looking young man. So good looking that it was intimidating. Every girl in school thought he was handsome and she wasn't lying when she said _every_ girl; herself included. Reluctantly, she nodded and Karin grinned.

"See? I just can't help flirting with such a good looking man. He's perfect!"

Well, Hinata wouldn't say _perfect_…

"But Haruno seems to really like Sasuke-kun. I can see it in her eyes. She gets so worked up over him too, it's so funny." And then she cackled.

Hinata blinked. "So, you only openly flirt with Sasuke-kun to annoy Sakura-chan…?"

"Well yeah! She looks really interesting when she's angry."

If Hinata didn't know any better, she'd say that Karin wasn't infatuated with Sasuke but rather Sakura. People always bully the people that they like after all.

The redhead stuffed another sandwich into her mouth. "It's just Haruno though. If you liked Sasuke-kun as much as she did, I'd be kind of afraid of making you cry or something."

Well, Karin wasn't wrong. Her heart shattered in two at the sight of Naruto and Sakura sharing an umbrella once. She felt pathetic admitting it to herself, but it was true. Imagine if Sakura flirted with Naruto as much as Karin flirted with Sasuke! And Hinata was so passive aggressive that she couldn't even do anything but start ignoring those around her. She was positive she'd revert to old habits all over again.

"Besides, Sasuke-kun is the one boy I wouldn't ever want to give up on. He's done a lot for me." Hinata looked into Karin's piercing red eyes. She didn't think they'd ever look so somber. Even so, the red head gave a small smile. "He was my first friend, and it was the most anyone has ever done for me. I'll always be grateful to him for that."

Hinata could almost feel the atmosphere thicken with sadness. "You know, I got teased a lot my whole life; for my glasses, my marks, my personality. I didn't have any friends growing up. Well, except for that old hag over there." She jabbed a thumb in the direction where Tojo laid curled up into a ball.

"But she's different. Even after I got accepted into high school, I didn't really have any friends. But then, handsome Sasuke-kun sat next to me in class. I got really nervous around him, so during break, I'd talk his ear off all the time."

Karin gave a small chuckle and even Hinata couldn't hold back a small giggle herself. Maybe all girls just got super nervous around people they liked, no matter how outgoing and flirtatious they were.

"Even though I was noisy and annoying, he never teased me about it like everyone else. He just listened. Then I got to talking about deeper and sadder stuff, and he just listened to me. That was all I ever wanted out of someone; to be heard for once in my life. That's why I really like Sasuke-kun. He's nicer than he lets on."

Listening to her really warmed Hinata's heart. She never in a million years thought that someone would use Sasuke's name and the words "nice" in the same sentence but, wonders never ceased. Later that afternoon Hinata excused herself, saying that she needed to go home.

Today was a good day. Hinata had learned a few more things about two of her new friends. One of which was that they put on such a cold front around everyone else, but they genuinely did care about those around them, even if their methods were a bit out of the ordinary.

* * *

"Have you found a suitable dress for the party yet?"

"Yes, Father."

"And have you been brushing up on your studies?"

"Yes, Father."

"Even your conversational English?"

"Yes, Father."

Hiashi gave an approving nod, not even bothering to look up from his work. She was currently standing in his study. Usually, no one was allowed to enter unless it was an emergency because her father did not like to be disturbed while working. Today, however, Hiashi had told one of the servants to bring Hinata into the study so that he could check up on her.

He clicked his tongue before speaking. "Good. There will be attendees coming from America. I want you to dazzle them, and show that you are a very diverse young woman. This event is very important to me, I'll have you know."

Hinata bit her lip. What he meant to add was "so don't mess this up for me." Hinata could just feel it.

"Yes, I understand Father." She absolutely hated when her father got like this about important events. Yes, his career was on the line if things were to go awry, and yes, of course he'd be stressed since he had to worry about every last detail. It was the fact that he didn't seem to notice how stressful this was on her.

Hinata had to play the perfect daughter – one who was graceful, cultured, and beautiful, not to mention knowledgeable on the ins and outs of her father's company. Not only did she have to keep up with the appearance, but she was also studying really hard for exams and trying to keep up with a new social life that she had no intention of parting with – yes, she was stressed to!

"Is there anything else that you wish to tell me, Father?" Hinata asked. Her voice was a bit dry.

Hiashi was silent for a moment as he was very much into the work in front of him. "No, that's all for now. You may leave."

Hinata gave a small bow and turned on her heels to leave, but her father's voice stopped her. "How are you getting along with Uchiha-san's son?"

Of course he would ask that. He had to make sure that she was on good terms with Sasuke so that they didn't ruin the business partnership. Not only that, but Sasuke was also a good connection to have in her future business endeavors.

Those were the only reasons. Not because, you know, they were great friends or anything like that and actually enjoyed hanging out together – of course not!

"Uchiha-san and I get along quite well. We are good friends." She told him. Hinata saw the back of her father's head nod and that was her cue to leave his study.

Once she was in her room, the Hyuga heiress plopped onto her bed, letting out a frustrated groan into her pillow. She was just so tired of everything going on in this house. Between studying, having party planners in and out of the estate and having her father give lectures on how she should carry herself – Hinata was starting to believe that she was going crazy!

"Deep breaths, Hinata… Deep breaths…" Just one more week. Just one more week until the party was over and her life could go back to being less chaotic than it usually was. All she'd have to deal with were… well, everything that was causing her all this stress now minus the party.

She would still be expected to study up on the business, on her English and her regular school work. She still had to fit the image of a classy young lady of course since she was _destined_ to take over the business someday.

It was no use. Hinata would never be able to catch a break. Everything was catching up to her so fast; she barely had time to even breathe. The world seemed to be spinning and no matter how many times she called out to make it stop, it just went by faster. Just thinking about keeping up with everyone made her feel dizzy. Hopefully, a nice long bath would help with calming her nerves.

**-x-**

The days seem to stretch on forever, but it was finally the day before the party. Everyone was busy and seemed to be a bit on edge about tomorrow night. Her father was especially on edge. She could tell by how harshly he barked orders at the servants or how cold his voice was while talking to her or her sister.

It didn't seem to affect Hanabi as much as it was affecting Hinata, but that was probably because Hanabi wasn't under as much scrutiny and pressure as she was.

The constant yelling and ordering around was giving her a headache. Her migraine appeared when her father sat her down that night to discuss all the most important people she needed to converse with, as well as her talking points. She could barely keep up, and was growing wearier by the second.

"Hinata!" Hiashi snapped, bringing his daughter out of her daze. "Have you been listening to a word I've been saying? This is very important for tomorrow night; you need to pay attention!"

"I'm trying my best, Father…" She mumbled.

"Trying and actually doing it are two different things. We've been going over this for a half an hour now." He gave a long sigh as Hinata bit her lip.

She'd had enough of this. "Then, can we just stop? Please?"

Hiashi was taken aback by this. "Stop? We haven't been making any progress, Hinata."

"Then, that's all the more reason to stop, isn't it?" She questioned.

Hiashi folded his arms, obviously annoyed at his daughter's objection. This child was really trying his patience. "Would you like a five minute break then?"

"I'd like a break forever." She murmured before quickly realizing her error. Her eyes went wide and she slowly shifted her gaze towards her father, who was livid. His posture didn't change, but Hinata could tell that the anger was held inside of his eyes.

"_Excuse me?_" Hiashi growled. The Hyuga heiress shook her head, but her father wasn't having any of that. "No, I'd like you to repeat yourself. Just where is this bad attitude of yours coming from?"

Now it was Hinata's turn to be surprised. "Bad attitude?" She repeated, aghast that he would even say something like that to her. "I am sorry Father, but I am _not_ the one with the bad attitude." Never had she felt so offended before in her life; and by her own father no less!

"How dare you!?" Hiashi's arms were unfolded now, and Hinata could tell that she had offended him too. "Is this what happens when you run off to play with those classless children out there? You come back disrespecting your father?"

"Don't say such rude things about them!" This was the first time she had ever raised her voice at him. She wanted to just let it go and drop the entire subject but her mouth wouldn't let her, despite her mind's protests. It just hurt so much that he would say something like that about her friends – the ones who accepted her and loved her for who she was. He knew absolutely nothing about her friend and how kind and loving they were to her – he had no place to speak about them like that! "Don't bring them into this; this isn't about them! I didn't ask for any of this!"

"Ask for any of _what_?"

"This!" She cried, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration. "I didn't ask to be heiress to the company! I didn't ask to know everything and anything about the business! I never asked for any of this!"

Hiashi bit his bottom lip in an attempt to keep himself calm. "It does not matter what you did or did not ask for. It is your responsibility to take over someday – we've already spoken about this Hinata. I do not want to hear another word about it. Please refrain from acting so childish."

"Am I not allowed to think for myself, Father? Am I not allowed to choose my future for myself? This isn't fair to me!"

"I _said_ I do not want to hear another word about it, Hinata."

"And I told you I did not ask for any of this to be brought upon me! I don't want to be in a position where I can never be with my family anymore -!"

"Hinata!" Hiashi cried.

"And I don't want to do this work that I'm not passionate about!"

Hiashi called his daughter's name once more, but she had stopped listening a long time ago.

"You never talk to me! You never ask me about what _I_ want to do in my life! It's always about you! It's always about the company! It's like you care about that company more than you care about me!"

All of a sudden, there was a loud clap that echoed throughout the room. Hinata's eyes went wide in shock, and her vision slowly wavered until it was focused on her father's face, who looked just as astonished, if not more so than she was.

The Hyuga heiress raised a hand to her left cheek. It stung so badly, but that wasn't the reason why the tears had begun to escape her eyes. Silence filled the room for what felt like an eternity before Hiashi raised his voice to speak.

"Hinata, I –"

She raised her hand up in front of him to stop whatever it was that he was going to attempt to say to her. "No." Her voice was shaky, almost hoarse and she hated the sound of it so much. It just sounded so weak. "Don't say anything. Your feelings about myself as well as what you think about my life have already been conveyed to me."

Hinata's hand lowered and she sniffled. Her shoulders began heaving and Hiashi had been so burdened with guilt. The last time he had seen his eldest daughter cry like this was at the funeral of his late wife. He wanted to reach out to her, or say something but she would only recoil from him.

He hadn't meant to go as far as he did, but he just lost it after she had screamed that he didn't care for her as much as he cared for his work. It hurt to hear that from his own daughter, but it must have hurt even more to be given that impression by her own father.

"I will not be attending the party tomorrow night." And with that, Hinata rushed out of the room before her father could get a single word in. On her way to her room, she had bumped into Neji who had heard the entire argument. He noticed the red mark on her cheek, and concern for his cousin washed over his face as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Please Neji-niisan…" She whimpered. "Just let me go. I don't want to talk about it… I just want to be alone right now…"

Although he was reluctant, the grip on his cousin's shoulders slipped and he sighed heavily. "As you wish."

Hinata mumbled a small "thank you" to him before running upstairs and into her bedroom.

Everything had been so painful. Her cheek hurt, her head hurt, and most importantly, her heart ached. Slowly, Hinata trudged into bed. It felt like hours had passed by but she hadn't gone to sleep and her tears were making her pillow soggy. She couldn't bring herself to get up and change it though. Hinata just wanted to lie there and never leave the comfort of her bed ever again.

And for the record, she was absolutely serious about what she told her father. Hinata was going to make sure she was locked up in her room during the entire party tomorrow night.

* * *

"Onee-chan…" Hanabi called from outside of her sister's room. It was the night of the party, and she had been dressed in a knee length midnight blue dress for the occasion. She had been trying for most of the day to coax her sister out of her room but was failing miserably. "I know you're hurt but please come out. Everyone wants to see you."

While Hinata was locked away in her room, Hanabi was the one playing Hinata's "perfect daughter" role – welcoming guests and engaging in polite and interesting conversations. When the topic of her elder sister came up, Hanabi would lie, and say that her sister was feeling under the weather.

Now that the younger of the two Hyuga sisters caught a moment away from the party, she tried her hand at getting her sister to come out once more, but when she heard nothing from the other side of the door, she sighed.

"No luck?" Neji asked. Hanabi shook her head. "I guess it can't be helped then…"

Her cousin motioned for someone to come towards them, and Hanabi was sure she'd seen his face before. "Hinata, Sasuke's here."

It was silent for a moment. Soon, the unlocking of the door could be heard and the door cracked open, revealing a very disheveled Hinata. Sasuke took in her features. Her hair was an absolute mess and a few strands were stuck to parts of her face. Her eyes were red, no doubt from excessive crying and her cheeks were stained with tears.

She and Sasuke stared at each other for a little too long if you asked Hanabi, before the Uchiha opened his mouth. "You look terrible."

Hinata's mouth was slightly agape, and there was a look of astonishment across her face before slamming the door shut and locking it once more. "Uchiha!" Neji cried.

Hanabi folded her arms across her chest, shooting him a disapproving look. "If that was your plan to get her out, it didn't work very well."

"I have eyes." He murmured before stepping closer to her door.

The younger sister huffed. "Is he really Onee-chan's friend?" she asked, more to herself than anyone else.

Sasuke wasted no time pounding the door with his fist. "Get out of there, you're being annoying. You wouldn't stop talking about how we'd hang out at this stupid party and now you're ditching me with those people downstairs? I don't think so."

Sheesh! What kind of friend was this Uchiha Sasuke anyway? He certainly made it look like they hated each other. To Hanabi's surprise, the door opened again, and Hinata peeked out, pouting slightly. "Why do you have to be so aggressive…?" She mumbled.

"Hurry up and get changed," Sasuke ordered, "and then go talk to whoever you need to talk to do we can leave. You've got 20 minutes to get downstairs or I'm going without you." And with that, Sasuke was already walking back to the party.

"Wait! Leave and go where, Uchiha?" Neji asked.

"On a walk." He answered plainly before the three of them could see him no more.

When he was gone, Hinata sighed. "I still haven't taken a bath yet."

"Seriously!? C'mon, that Uchiha guy said that you had 20 minutes!" Hanabi cried, pulling on her sister's wrist and guiding her to the bathroom. "Neji-niichan'll specially curl your hair too!"

Neji watched the two Hyuga sisters scurry off to the bathroom and sighed. _Thank God for Uchiha, I guess._

**-x-**

She was late. A whole 10 minutes late. Nevertheless, Sasuke still waited around for her, as he suspected this would happen. Women took forever to dress up and look pretty for events; his mother was the same way. Then he quickly cast that thought aside, preoccupying himself with his phone.

It took another five minutes before the Uchiha looked up from his phone to see the three Hyugas enter from another room. He watched Hinata frantically look around for him, and when her eyes settled on him, she smiled. There was a big improvement in her attire. Her dark hair wasn't strewn about, but rather neatly curled, spilling behind her back and on her chest. Her shoulders were bare and her arms sleeveless. The simple lavender dress she wore had a sweetheart neckline, and wasn't too revealing. He could see her legs right up until her knee.

The pearls that she was wearing looked nice on her too, he added. Overall, Sasuke had to say that Hinata cleaned up quite nicely.

"You didn't leave me behind." She smiled, and he made a face.

"I was just about to. Anyway, go do what you need to do and hurry up."

The Hyuga gave a small laugh. "You know, you're a lot nicer than you let on."

With that, Hinata left him momentarily to spend time mingling with people, some important and some not as important. She had been careful not to run into her father, and came close to running into him only once. The guests didn't really have anything interesting to say and they didn't seem to be interested in her either, only the company – as she suspected.

Once Hinata was finished, she and Sasuke left the manor together, walking aimlessly around the neighborhood. Neither of them had said anything to the other during their walk, although Sasuke really wanted to bring up why she didn't want to attend the party in the first place. Neji had been very vague, saying only that Hinata refused to attend the party because she wasn't feeling well.

At first, the Uchiha thought she had gone and caught a summer cold, but upon seeing her so miserable looking, he assumed that someone had made her feel unwell, rather than a virus.

However, Hinata looked unwilling to speak about what was troubling her, so Sasuke thought he'd get her to focus on something else for a while. "Karin tells me she wants to marry you."

"What?" Hinata responded quickly. She hadn't meant for it to sound as if she were annoyed. She was just a bit thrown off by the Uchiha's choice for a starter topic for their conversation.

"You heard me."

Yes, she did hear him. That didn't change the fact that it totally blindsided her. "I did, but I wasn't expecting you to say that…" She mumbled. "Um, why'd she say that?"

Sasuke shrugged and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black slacks. "She wouldn't shut up about how you cleaned her cuts and how you made her lunch."

Hinata giggled. "Well, I'm always happy to help a friend out. Speaking of friends, I never knew that you and Karin were such good friends."

He gave a slight nod. Wow. If Uchiha Sasuke acknowledged a friendship, then there had to have been a really good bond between him and the other person. "She told me that you were very kind to her."

Sasuke's mouth curled in disgust. "She better not have told you anything stupid."

"Oh no! She only told me that you were her first true friend." He grunted and Hinata let a soft giggle escape her lips. "What did you mean by 'stupid'? Did you play with her cats or something?"

When Sasuke didn't answer, the smile on her face grew wider and she let out a small squeal as Sasuke groaned in annoyance. "I didn't know you were an animal person! Do you have any animals of your own?"

Sasuke shook his head. "My father is allergic to cats."

"Oh, that's too bad…" She frowned. "Ah, but when you're living on your own, you'd certainly be able to adopt a little cat." Hinata was looking a lot livelier than earlier now that they were out of her home and talking about furry animals.

Still, Sasuke was curious as to what caused her to look so miserable. "Hinata." Sasuke said, taking Hinata by surprise. He had never called her by her first name before. "Are you seriously okay?"

"…Is this… Is this about earlier?"

Her whole demeanor became melancholy and she stopped walking. When Sasuke stopped hearing the clicking of her heals on the concrete floor, he stopped as well and turned to face her.

"Last night, my father and I got into a huge argument about the company." She could feel his gaze intensify on her and she let out a sigh. "I told him everything I felt… Everything that you and I feel… about not feeling as important as the business."

Sasuke's eyes watched as her hand lifted up to touch her left cheek. It was plush looking and a light shade of pink dusted across it. Must have been make-up. "Then he slapped me. My father has never raised his hand at me before that night, so I was shocked. I locked myself in my room for the whole day, because I refused to go to the party."

"If I had known that, I would have just let you stay up there." Sasuke had undoubtedly felt guilty for forcing her to do this after all she had been through the previous night.

"No, it's okay… I'm glad you did. We wouldn't be talking right now if you hadn't gotten me out." She gave him one of her signature, heartwarming smiles. "It's just really difficult living with someone who doesn't care about you enough to even take your wishes into consideration. And it's even harder when that person is your father."

"I know." He said to her. "To be honest, the past year has been hard on me. My parents –"

"Is that Sasuke?" A voice called out suddenly.

Sasuke's face had gone from empathetic to annoyed in two seconds flat. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." He murmured underneath his breath before turning around to see his exuberant blond best friend running towards him at full speed.

"Oh, Hinata's with you too!" He grinned. Hinata let out a small giggle and nodded. "Oh! You look really pretty tonight, Hinata!"

Sasuke unsuccessfully fought the urge to roll his eyes while Hinata blushed. "Y-you really think so?"

"Mhmm, I do! And you're even wearing the necklace I bought you! It's nice to know that you like it so much. "Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head. So that was where Hinata got it from. Sasuke thought that Naruto said he and Hinata weren't a couple. He must've been courting her or something, if he went out of his way to get her an expensive looking necklace.

"What're you two doing out so late anyway?" He questioned. Naruto had already taken in Hinata's appearance, but when he looked over at his best friend, he saw that Sasuke was dressed pretty sharply. The blond narrowed his eyes at them and frowned. "You two on a date or somethin'?"

Hinata was about to answer him but Sasuke beat her to it, with a terrible smirk etched onto his face. "Hinata wishes this was a date."

Her face flushed red and she turned to yell at the Uchiha. "S-Sasuke-kun, don't say things like that!"

_Hinata? Sasuke-kun?_ Since when were they on first name basis? Before he could think about it, Hinata had answered his question, saying that there was a party at her home and they had to attend since their parents were in business together.

"Did you want to walk with us as well, Naruto-kun?" Hinata's honeyed voice always made him smile. But then Sasuke's cold sounding voice cut in and it made Naruto scowl.

"You always do this!" Sasuke scolded her. "You're too nice to him! We were talking about something important. You can take a walk with him some other day. Now let's go." Sasuke took a hold of Hinata's wrist, and she turned her head around and waved goodbye to Naruto, giving him an apologetic smile.

Naruto wasn't sure if it was the scolding, the grabbing of her wrist or the way they had seemed so close. Whatever it was, Naruto did not like it one bit.

* * *

And that's all for August! We got to see a little snippet of Hanabi! Hooray!

Did you enjoy it? I sure do hope so! Next chapter is 10: September! I kind of missed writing them in school, so now I get to do that again!

See you in the next one!

Also! Brownie points for any of you who know what anime Naruto was referring to when he helped Hinata get that fox. (You'll all get it. It was a pretty big hint.)


	10. September

Sup! I'm back with September! Their senior year is halfway complete, and this makes me nervous.

I also wanted to say that my cat scared the shit out of me the other day, and I almost died. If I die and this fic isn't complete, don't worry! I've got a friend who knows how everything ends, she's got you covered!

Assuming she doesn't die too.

Alright, enough about that. Time to start! Please enjoy.

* * *

**September:** So Maybe I am a Little Jealous

* * *

"My sister and I saw it on TV last night. It was really interesting." Hinata beamed. Today was her first day back at school and she was spending the time before homeroom chatting with Sasuke about a movie they both happened to catch on television last night. Ever since the night of the party, the two of them seemed to become better friends.

They would often text back and forth, and one day during their last week of vacation, Sasuke came to visit her at home just to hang out with her. Hanabi teased her, calling him Hinata's "Uchiha boyfriend," much to Hinata's disliking. When he left, Hanabi had told her that his attitude was absolutely terrible but his face was to die for, and proceeded to tell her older sister that she had good taste in men.

Hinata wasn't sure if Hanabi truly believed Sasuke was her boyfriend at that point, but she'd certainly have to sit her down and set her straight soon.

"Really? It was alright, I guess. The only part I wasn't too fond of was that romance scene towards the end of it." Sasuke said, placing his right elbow on the desk and using his hand to prop up the side of his face.

Hinata tilted her head to the side, knitting her eyebrows in disagreement. "Eh, did you? I kind of liked it, to be honest."

"Of course you did. I bet you cried at the end too, when they couldn't be together."

Hinata pouted slightly as Sasuke smirked. "Hah, you did cry, didn't you?"

"Sasuke-kun! You're too mean!" She wasn't outright bawling, but a few tears here and there did slide down her cheek. As Hinata tried to defend her actions, Naruto couldn't help but watch her with a rather bored expression on his face.

"_Jeeze, Sasuke-kun this! Sasuke-kun that!_" He mimicked in a light voice. Ino, who had been sitting on his desk placed a hand over her mouth, which shot open in shock due to what she had just heard.

She stared at him with wide blue eyes and Naruto glared at her in return. "What?" He snapped, after a moment of silence came between them.

Ino waved her hand in front of her dismissively. "Nothing, nothing! It's just… _pfft_, are you okay?" Naruto wasn't okay with the cheesy grin she gave him, that was for sure.

When the blonde began to laugh, he scowled. "What? What's so funny!?"

"You!" She cried, pointing a finger at Naruto. "You're so _jealous_!"

He scoffed. "Yeah right! Jealous of what?"

Ino snickered and turned to talk to the pink haired girl sitting in front of her and Naruto. "He's totally jealous, don't you think so, forehead?" When Sakura didn't say anything, Ino slid off of Naruto's desk to stand next to her. "Forehead? Billboard Brow…? Uh, Sakura?" she tried calling, but it seemed like she was in a daze.

"Sakura." Ino said a little firmer as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped slightly at the touch and turned to look at her blonde friend, who looked slightly concerned. "Are you alright? I've been calling you for a while now."

"Uh, yeah… I'm fine. I just spaced out for a bit there."

Ino was going to say something, but the school bell chimed throughout the building, indicating that it was time for homeroom. Their homeroom teacher had walked in, ready to welcome them back from summer vacation. It was surprising – that guy was never on time last semester. "Everyone, take your seats."

"Feel better soon then." Ino told her. "Oh, and we'll talk later, Naruto." With that, Ino made her way to her desk at the front of the classroom.

Naruto huffed. Talk? There was absolutely _nothing_ to talk about. God, Ino could be so annoying sometimes. As their homeroom teacher went on about keeping up with studying and upcoming events, Naruto spent his time glaring holes in the back of Sasuke's head.

**-x-**

Lunch time rolled around, and Sasuke and Hinata were discussing their plans for lunch. Apparently, Sasuke was going over to Karin's classroom to have lunch with her and some others that Hinata didn't really know. However, once described to her, she was sure she had seen them around – their features really stood out from the rest of the kids at her school.

She was one to talk. After all, she and her cousin were the only two in the school currently with white eyes. Some distant relatives who graduated when she was a freshman did attend Konoha High school, but there were only two of them as well.

Hinata had told Sasuke that she was going to have her lunch with Kiba and Shino. "When you get a chance, come with me to have lunch in the classroom over. Karin really wants to eat with you." Sasuke said in his usual expressionless tone.

"Oh, but I don't want to inconvenience you." If she just decided she wanted to eat with her on some random day that Sasuke wanted to eat with Naruto and Sakura or alone, she'd feel pretty bad. Besides, she and Karin have been alone before. Actually, all the times that she'd ever spoken to Karin was by herself.

Sasuke made a face at her for some reason. "No. I'm not leaving you by yourself with her and those other two idiots. It's too risky. Anyway, later." Then he was gone. What did he mean by risky? She'd just have to ask him later.

Hinata made her way over to Kiba's desk, lunchbox in hand, and noticed Naruto having a conversation with her two best friends. When they spotted her, they all stopped talking to greet her.

"Yo! How's it going Hinata?" Kiba grinned.

She gave him a small smile. "Everything's been going well. Are you having lunch with us too, Naruto-kun?"

Before he could even answer her, Ino had linked arms with him. "Nope, we've got a lunch date together!" She winked.

"Wha? Get off of me! No we don't!" He cried flailing about.

"Yes we do, we already confirmed it earlier! Now let's go!" The blonde proceeded to drag a screaming Naruto out of the classroom. Sometimes, Ino could be as scary as Sakura when she wanted something, if not more so.

"Those two are strange." Shino mumbled.

Strange indeed. But, if they were going to have lunch together, why did they need to leave the classroom?

**-x-**

Ino had gotten Naruto all the way to the vending machines before she released him. "I said a hundred times that there's nothing to talk about! Do you not listen!?" Naruto growled, but Ino only wore a smirk on her face.

"I never said anything about talking to me. I just said I wanted to have lunch together." Naruto mentally kicked himself for giving her an opening. "What? Are you hiding something from me? Could it have been about Hyuga-san earlier? Hmm?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and folded his arms, refusing to talk about anything that happened this morning. Then a thought crossed his mind – the party. Hinata and Ino were kind of close, and he was sure that that the two of them talked about it as well as Sasuke being there. They had to! Ino never stopped talking about boys!

"Uh, actually…" Naruto started, rubbing the back of his neck in the process, "do you know anything about these parties that Hinata and Sasuke go to? I met up with them before break ended and they were all dressed up."

Ino's smirk fell and she held her chin between her thumb and index finger, humming in thought. "Company parties." She answered. "Their parents hold these big networking events for everyone to get to know each other, and since their both heirs to their individual businesses, they have to attend."

That was more or less the same thing Hinata had told him on that day. "That's all?" Naruto inquired.

"Naturally, since the businesses are partnered together, both Hinata and Sasuke's parents want them to get to know each other better. They go on a few dates and hopefully they'll like each other enough to get married after we graduate. That way, their businesses can merge and become even stronger. By the way she's been looking lately, I think it's safe to assume that Sasuke's already proposed to Hinata." Ino explained flawlessly.

Naruto was stunned, and the look on his face spelled out pure horror. "**S-seriously!?**" He cried. The blonde gave a cat-like grin.

"At least, it would make for a good story if it were true."

"Ino, you can't say stuff like that!" Naruto cried, shaking his fist at her, but the grin never left Ino's face.

"Oh-ho~! Someone's a bit _jealous_." He opened his mouth to say something to her but she never gave him the chance. "Oh stop it. Come on now, Naruto, who are you really fooling? I heard you this morning, and your face just now proves that you are."

Naruto shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants before mumbling something unintelligible. He then shifted his gaze towards Ino. "I guess so, but not just for the reason you're thinking." Ino raised her eyebrows in question before Naruto continued.

"Yeah, I guess I get a little annoyed that she's off spending more time with that bastard than she is with me. But I'm also jealous of her ability to make him look like his normal self again, something me or Sakura couldn't do when he first got back here. And I'm supposed to be his best friend."

Ino nodded in agreement. Naruto was right. Before Sasuke had left, he was reserved sure, but there was this look to him – a look of despair almost. Then he tried to mask it and it just came off as aloofness. She would be lying to herself if she said that the time Sasuke and Hinata were spending together hadn't changed him somewhat.

After all, Sakura did say that Hinata and Sasuke shared some kind of moment together during the class trip.

"Hey, Naruto." Ino spoke up. "Do you like her?"

He ran his hand through his golden locks and sighed. That was always the question, wasn't it? It was beginning to become annoying now. "I… don't know." He admitted. He saw Ino tilt her head in question and decided it would be best to continue. If anyone knew anything about love, it was definitely Ino. "…Promise this won't get back to anyone else."

Ino stretched out her arm, holding out her pinky. "I promise." Naruto linked his pinky with hers for a moment before they both let go.

"I'm not lying when I say that I don't know… It's just… How does a person like two people at once?"

Oh. So this had something to do with Sakura too. "You like Sakura still, huh?"

"I… I'm trying not to. I don't want to like her anymore." This was news to Ino. Naruto was purposely trying to forget his feelings for Sakura? She bit her lip, remembering that Sakura had somewhat confessed to her that she was starting to like Naruto too. "I don't wanna deal with these stupid feelings. But then; there's Hinata. She's really kind and gentle and she… always seems to know what to say to make me smile…"

He took another pause.

"But, I really don't want it to turn out like the whole Sakura thing all over again. And I don't wanna stress myself about it. I don't want to deal with that stuff anymore, y'know what I mean?"

Ino nodded. Naruto really seemed to be bent out of shape about all of this – more than she could have possibly thought. "It's fine that you want to be alone because of it but just be careful not to string anyone along. A girl's heart is really fragile."

"That's the last thing I wanna do."

Satisfied with their talk, Ino suggested going back to the classroom to help Naruto cheer up.

* * *

"You've gotten a lot better from when you first started." Sai said, inspecting Hinata's sketch. "But it looks like you put a lot more effort into the clothing than anything else." The two of them were in the art room with the other club members who were busy painting, sculpting or just having friendly conversations. Currently, Sai was reviewing a drawing that Hinata worked on all week.

She gave a sheepish smile. "Well, I wanted to get them perfect… But I'm so glad that you think it's good. I had been doubting it…"

The artist gave her a small pat on the head and she frowned. What did he take her for, a child? "Don't like it just because I like it. You should like it because you created it. An artist must always stand by their work. If you don't love what you've created then what's the purpose?"

Since when was Sai so philosophical? It must have been because he was in his element. Still, Sai was right. If she was going to create something, it had to be something that she was willing to showcase to the world because she loved it so much. "Thank you. I'll take that knowledge with me moving forward."

Sai smiled, though it looked like he was expecting something else. Hinata sighed. "Thank you, Sai-sensei. You are wise beyond your age."

He then began to look a bit sheepish, swaying from side to side in his chair. "Haha, praise me more."

"Ehhh? But you told me to say that to you…" Hinata mumbled. He was such a child sometimes.

"Oh," Sai shot up suddenly, gathering his things together. "There's something important that I need to go do. I have to hurry before it's too late. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Hinata watched him as he scurried into the hall. The sound of his footsteps were drowned out by the voices of their peers. Sai was usually the last one to leave the club room, so to see him bolt out of the room at top speed was kind of strange. Then again, Sai was a strange guy.

The dark haired teen began to work on another drawing – one that she would be more proud of. After this, she decided that she would check on Kiba at basketball practice. Maybe they'd be able to walk home together.

(^o^)

She was careful not to make any noise while entering the gym, not that she needed to – the guys were all hollering anyway, and the sounds of echoing basketballs and squeaking sneakers were much louder than a door opening and closing. Hinata stuck to the side of the wall, careful to avoid anything coming her way. "Ah, Hinata!" a voice called out to her.

She turned to find an exuberant redhead rushing over to greet her. "Karin! It's nice to see you again." She nodded in agreement and folded her arms.

"So, here to see Sasuke-kun?" She asked and Hinata shook her head.

"This is the second time you've asked me about him…"

Karin gave a laugh. "Because Sasuke's so cool! All the girls come in to see him! Look!"

She pointed over to the bleachers where a small crowd of girls from different years sat, all cheering for the onyx eyed senior. Hinata gave them quite a jaded look before returning her focus to Karin.

"So, if not Sasuke, then who did you come here for? Your _boyfriend_ perhaps?" She grinned.

Hinata dismissed the idea with a quick wave of her hand. "No, no. A friend of mine is on the team. We've been together since we were young. I was going to wait here for him so we could walk home together." As she said this, she was scanning the court for him, but she had no luck in finding him. "Weird, I don't see him… And he said he'd be here today."

"You two ladies should be sitting on the bleachers to avoid any accidents." The team's coach told them. Hinata always thought he was a bit weird, always wearing green spandex suits in during all seasons of the year. The two girls bowed in apology.

"We're sorry, Guy-sensei!" The cried in unison. When he waved it off, the girls stood upright again. "Um, Guy-sensei. Is Kiba-kun here today?" Hinata questioned.

"Ah, Inuzuka? He left early. Apparently his dog had to be taken to the vet – seemed like an emergency too since Uzumaki went with him."

Naruto had to leave with Kiba? That couldn't have been a good sign. Hinata prayed that Akamaru would be okay. Kiba would have been devastated if anything were to happen to him. "I see. Thank you, Guy-sensei."

With that, the two girls headed over to the bleachers to watch the rest of the team practice and listened to the group of girls obnoxiously shrieking Sasuke's name. Hinata decided to shoot Kiba a text message asking if Akamaru was okay.

About 20 minutes later, she received a photo of Akamaru, with his right front leg bandaged up. He didn't look too bad, as he was licking the side of Naruto's face, who was a bit blurry from movement. The text message read:

_He fractured his leg, but he should be fine!_

Hinata giggled at the picture and sent Kiba a text message back, saying that she'd stop by to see how Akamaru was doing sometime during the week. Thank goodness he was okay. Now, she could watch the rest of the team practice in ease knowing that everything was alright.

(^o^)

"That's what he told me! I swear, Suigetsu is such an ass – and he's always doing stupid stuff! Like just the other day, he –!"

When you got Karin started on Suigetsu, you couldn't get her to stop talking about him – and she was never saying anything good about him either. Hinata promised Karin that she would wait with her while Sasuke finished with practice so they could walk home together.

Sasuke had mentioned his name while asking Karin about something, which prompted her to scoff before answering his question.

Then, Hinata made the unfortunate mistake of tilting her head to the side and saying, "Suigetsu?" causing Karin to tell her about the oh-so-terrible Hozuki Suigetsu, who Hinata recognized as captain of the swim team.

"Ah, but aren't you two friends? Friends should be close to one another, right?" Hinata said, in an attempt to get her redheaded friend to calm down.

Karin gave a snort. "Tch, as if! We just happen to have some friends in common, that's all!"

"They're friends." Sasuke said nonchalantly, causing Karin to cry out in frustration and tick off all the reasons why she and Suigetsu could never be friends. Hinata gave a small giggle. Friendships came in all shapes and forms, she supposed.

"Gosh, you're so rude, Sasuke-kun! But I'll forgive you because you're so cute."

"Thanks." He said dryly.

They walked up a few more blocks or so before Karin stopped them. "I turn the corner here, so I'm gonna go now. Bye Sasuke-kuuuun!" She cried, throwing her arms around him and attempting to place a kiss on his cheek. Sasuke merely lifted his head, which stopped her from kissing him even when she stood on her tippy toes.

She backed away from him and huffed. "Be that way! I'll get you some day!" She then turned her attention to Hinata and grinned. "Bye-bye Hinata! Come have lunch with me soon!" Hinata felt Karin's skinny arms wrap around her, and felt her lips press against her cheek.

With that, the redhead skipped off towards her home, leaving Sasuke and Hinata to stand silently in shock. Slowly, Hinata brought her hand to the cheek that Karin had kissed and kept it there for a while, not sure if what she felt actually happened of if she was in a strange dream.

"Did Karin just kiss you?" Sasuke asked, sounding slightly perturbed. So it wasn't a dream.

"I… I guess she did." Hinata confirmed.

After another long moment of silence, the two began to walk again, talking about whatever popped up into their minds first – thought that was more on Hinata's part than Sasuke's. "Oh right!" She suddenly remembered something. "I submitted a few college applications."

Sasuke was slightly confused. "How? We don't take college exams until January, so you can't submit an application yet."

"Ah, I mean, I've applied to school in America." Hinata said. "I've been studying for the exams that Americans take to get into school and I've also been studying my English a lot over the summer. It's been time consuming, but I think it's worth it."

Sasuke had to say, he was a bit impressed. "Why America though?"

Hinata had originally planned to go to America to get as far away from home as possible. After doing her research for countless hours, she found that schools in America were rather interesting, and she wanted to take the opportunity. "It's a wonderful opportunity, I feel. I also want the freedom and independence too. My father and I discussed it around this time last year, and I intend to follow through with it."

"You're bold." Sasuke admitted. Now, Hyuga Hinata was a lot of things, but she certainly did not see herself as bold. Though, if Sasuke believed that she was, maybe she'd have to believe it herself. The Uchiha never lied about things like that. Or at least, Hinata didn't think he lied about things like that. "You're right about it being a great opportunity though. Stick with it."

Hinata nodded. Maybe she could find something that she loved to do over there. The States were a place where people from all over the world came to live. Hopefully, she'd find some new friends who had different experiences than her, and had wonderful stories to tell about their homes and customs.

Just thinking about it made her really excited, and her smile only grew wider as time went on.

"What're you smiling about?" Sasuke questioned.

"Oh, just about the future."

(^o^)

It was the morning before homeroom, and Hinata strolled in with Neji at her side. She sat on his desk while the two conversed about the weather and how humid it had been these past few days. Hinata was sure that the weather should have been cooling down by now. It was so much cooler in the first week of September, especially when her school was holding sports day.

Though, the cool air didn't stop Naruto and Sasuke from competing with each other, even though they were on the same team since they were in the same class. Hinata remembered the two bolting out of the school gates, racing each other as if it were a relay race when the entire school was completing a marathon.

She remembered it ending in a draw, since the two were tired from running so long and ended up crossing the finish line together, coming in dead last. She giggled.

"What's so funny?" Neji inquired, watching his cousin break out into tiny fits of laughter.

"Ah, I just remembered something funny about sports day."

"Uchiha and Uzumaki?" He asked, knowing fully well what the answer was.

She nodded and the two of them began to laugh until they heard someone call Hinata's name. Sasuke had motioned for her to come outside on the classroom, and she gingerly slid off of Neji's desk, telling him that she'd talk to him later.

"Is something the matter?" She asked and he shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"I thought about what you said last night. And I spoke to my dad about it. He thinks schooling in America is a good opportunity too."

Hinata's eyes widened, and her smile was bright. "Are you applying to school in America too?" Sasuke nodded in response, and she clapped her hands together in excitement, beginning to tell him all that she researched about the states.

Her future really was something she could actually smile about now.

* * *

"Well yeah. I mean, we can walk home together if you want to." Naruto mumbled. He absolutely _hated_ this. This _wasn't_ him. Uzumaki Naruto was never one to mumble or become shy, and yet here he was, shyly telling Hyuga Hinata that he wanted to walk home with her after school today.

She did that cute giggle that she always did when she found something slightly humorous or heartwarming – the one where she'd put her right hand over her mouth and close her eyes. Then she nodded and said, "Yes, that would be nice," in that honeyed voice that made him tense up ever so slightly.

It annoyed him.

Ever since he had confessed to Ino that he wasn't ready to jump in the cycle of chasing a girl all over again, he was starting to feel a little more uneasy around Hinata. His blonde friend had been serious about her warning to not string anyone along, and while it was not his intention, Hinata made it so hard not to wrap his arms around her and pull her in for a hug.

But he was positive that he didn't want to be in a relationship. At least until his feelings for Sakura had died down. How pretentious of him, to think that Hinata wanted a relationship with him. Besides, she seemed to be closer to Sasuke than she was to him.

"Um, Naruto-kun?" Hinata called to him, shaking his thoughts.

"Oh. Yeah? What's up?"

He watched her shift around for a moment, looking for the right words to say to him. "Your um… You have a game coming up, right?"

She was correct. The team had a basketball game in their gymnasium later on this week with the team from Suna High School. He nodded. "Yeah! It's happening on Friday night! Are you coming to cheer me on?" He asked in a slightly teasing voice.

Hinata's cheeks reddened slightly. "Ah, well… I was planning to watch the game, yes. I just wanted to tell you to do your best."

When she smiled Naruto couldn't help the large, goofy grin that spread across his face. He finally wrapped his arms around the petite girl, who gave a surprised squeak. "Hinata! You're so nice!" He cried.

Nice? Hinata thought that she was only being truthful. She wasn't going to argue against it though. Seeing Naruto like this made her happy.

(^o^)

Ino had been looking quite nervous for most of the day today. Hinata saw that she looked a little pale and was constantly looking over her shoulder. Concerned for her friend, Hinata convinced Sakura that they should check up on her.

Sakura agreed, since she noticed the blonde being eerily quiet today. During one of their 10 minute breaks between classes, the girls walked to Ino's desk at the front of the classroom. "Ino," Hinata began, "are you alright? You don't look like yourself today…"

"Yeah, what gives? Did you put on weight again or something?" Sakura teased lightly. Ino must've been really out of it, because she didn't give a snippy retort. She only reached into her desk and pulled put a small white envelope and handed it to the girls.

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "A love letter?"

Ino's pink haired friend folder her arms, staring intently at the envelope. "Isn't that a skull sticker sealing it though?"

"It is!" Ino cried. "Guys, I'm serious – someone is stalking me!"

"I'm sure that's not it, Ino…" Hinata tried reasoning.

"It is! Go on! Go ahead and read it, you'll see!"

Sakura and Hinata exchanged looks before opening the envelope and pulling out the letter. It read:

_Dearest Inoshishi,_

_I am interested how loud your voice carries over from three classrooms down,_

_And how your hair is always in place – really, how do you get it to stay like that?_

_I'm curious._

_I am also interested in your energetic ways._

_You also eat in a very interesting way too._

_I find you interesting. Please accept my feelings._

Sakura and Hinata both shared incredulous looks before slowly turning their attention to Ino. "And there isn't even a name at the bottom! Who the hell could it be!?" She cried.

"Hah, they called you by your full name." Sakura giggled, and Ino slammed her fists on her desk indignantly.

"You shut your mouth, Forehead!"

"Please accept my feelings…" Hinata repeated. "It has to be a love letter."

Ino's eyebrow twitched as she looked at her dark haired friend in disbelief. "Really Hinata? Really!? This is no love letter! They just insulted me!"

Sakura felt Hinata leave her side to tend to her blonde friend, showing her what lines supported her case of it truly being a love letter, but Ino wasn't buying it. As Hinata's soft voice was masked under Ino's shrill one, Sakura stood there quietly, as the sounds of her friends were drowned out by her own thoughts.

Her friends seemed to be flourishing in the romance department. Even if the letter Ino was so scared about wasn't a love letter, she usually got one or two a month. Ino was really popular, even from a young age. Guys just seemed to like her cheerful nature and good looks.

Hinata must have had some romance going on in her life too. Sasuke and Naruto seemed to gravitate towards her; and not only was she pretty, but she was always so kind and gentle with everyone. Sakura wasn't oblivious to some of the murmurs in the hall about how cute Hyuga Hinata was.

So where did this leave her? She had no one who had their eye on her… At least, not anyone she wanted. Honestly, Rock Lee was a nice person, but she didn't feel that way about him. Sakura didn't even know what Sasuke was feeling and Naruto…

Well, she wasn't sure. This had been eating her up since last month too. Where did they even stand?

"Sakura-chan." She heard a soft but firm voice call out to her.

"Wh-what!?"

Hinata and Ino shared worried looks. "Um… class is starting again. We should go to our seats now, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." The girls took their seats again, just right before their math teacher walked in for the lesson.

Sakura could hardly pay attention, her mind drifting off to the blond boy that sat behind her. She'd have to talk to him about this soon.

**-x-**

Basketball practice had just ended, and Naruto was feeling super stoked about his game tomorrow. Guy-sensei had been a little tough on them since they got back from vacation, but it was well worth it.

Naruto was also a little excited that Hinata would be there. Sure, she went to the games to support Kiba, but this time she'd be cheering for him too – he couldn't let her down!

As he exited the doors to the gym, he noticed Sakura leaning against the wall. She perked up at the sound of the doors opening and he smiled at her. "Oi, Sakura! Are you waiting on Sasuke?"

He noticed that she bit down on her lip. "Uh, no actually. I was wondering if we could talk about something."

She breathed a sigh of relief when he nodded and they walked the empty halls together. "So, what's on your mind?"

Sakura rubbed her arm anxiously before sighing. "What…" She began, unsure of how to formulate her words. "What are we exactly…?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I just… Well we… That kiss –" She stopped herself, realizing that that kiss was almost a half a year old. "What did that… What did that mean?"

"The kiss, huh?" Naruto mumbled. It was something he thought she didn't care about anymore, and yet, here she was, asking him what a kiss that they shared over spring break meant. "Well… I dunno." He shrugged. "I did it because I liked you."

Of course he did it because he liked her. Why else would he have done it? If anything, _he_ should've been asking _her_ where they stood, Sakura mentally scolded herself. "What about you?" He asked suddenly, throwing her off.

"To be honest… I did it because I liked you too." She mumbled.

Naruto's expression took on a skeptical one and he folded his arms. "You're lying."

A light gasp escaped her lips before her brows furrowed and she took an aggressive stance. "I'm not lying! Do you really think I'd just kiss you for the hell of it while knowing about your feelings?"

He hadn't thought about that. Of course Sakura wouldn't do something as cruel as that. He would admit it; it was a bit rude on his part to insinuate that. Naruto unfolded his arms and gave a small sigh. "Sorry… But, even so, you still like Sasuke, don't you? Why're we even talking about this?"

His tone was bitter, and it made Sakura shift in discomfort. Never had she heard his voice like this before. It was a stark contrast to his usual upbeat and cheerful self. What was she supposed to say to him? What did she even want from him? She didn't know. "My feelings for him… I guess they never really went away. But I –"

"If they aren't gone then don't do this to me…" Naruto cast his sight away from her and she did the same. "I… I really like you, y'know? All the way back in middle school, I thought you were the best person I ever met; smart, pretty – all of that. But you only had eyes for Sasuke, and you still do."

This time, Naruto's gaze shifted onto the pink haired girl in front of him. "I could never compete with him for you – never. No matter what I did, he was always your favorite. So, I decided to stop doing this to myself and forget those feelings but now you're here asking me what I feel and it's confusing! Even if you do say you like me, what would you even do about it?"

"I don't know what I'd do about it, okay!?" Sakura cried, finally able to face him. "Back in March, I was willing to say yes to you! I was willing to forget about my feelings for someone who left right after I poured my heart out to him!"

"Are you still willing to forget them now?"

Her eyes widened at his question, and her aggressive stance was no more. Was she willing to forget about them? Well of course she wanted to, especially after Sasuke had come back and didn't even utter a word to her about her confession at the end of their freshman year. And especially after he had spent so much time off with Hinata. His feelings about her were as clear as day – he didn't like her the way she liked him.

But even though she wanted to get rid of them so badly, she just couldn't. There was something about him that always drew her to him. He was interesting; cold and calculating one moment, honest and caring at another. As much as he didn't like admitting it, he always looked out for her because he believed that they were friends – she knew that.

Sakura knew that somewhere deep down, he had to have cared about her. Something in him just… changed recently, and he put up a front around her and Naruto. Even so, she couldn't disregard her feelings for him. Did that make her pathetic? Stupid even? That she couldn't give up on a boy who hid things from her? She couldn't tell.

"I can't answer that question properly." She finally answered him.

"Well, let me know when you can then."

With that, Naruto and Sakura decided to end their conversation there and head home. They went home separately, wanting to rid themselves of the awkwardness between them from earlier. Later that night, Naruto wasn't feeling as pumped for the basketball game as he once was.

* * *

"Yaho!" Karin cried out, obnoxiously opening the door to Hinata's classroom. Most of the class turned their heads to look at the boisterous redhead in front of them before giving her a jaded look.

"Sasuke's not in here right now, so go look for him somewhere else." They said in unison.

Karin took a step back, flabbergasted by the response she received. "How rude! I'll have you know that I didn't come in here for him!"

"Then why're you in here?" Ino asked jadedly, as she rested her arms and head on top of Shikamaru, whose complaints were ignored.

"Simple. I'm here for Hinata." She said nonchalantly.

Now it was class 3-2's turn to be flabbergasted as the turned to look at the petite girl sitting at her desk by the window. "Hinata!?"

Karin, who was pleased with the uproar in the classroom, gave a haughty smirk. "Since everyone's so rude in here, let's have lunch in my classroom then, Hinata-_chan_."

The Hyuga nodded, picking up her lunch box and following Karin back to class 3-3. Even though the two classrooms looked the same, the atmosphere was surely different from her own – as were the people.

She was sure that she'd seen their faces before. There were a few of the people on student council that she recognized and said hello to on occasion. Then there were some guys on the basketball team that she got the chance to meet last Friday, since Naruto insisted on introducing her to them. One of the boys even winked at her upon her entrance, and she gave a small and nervous smile.

They sat down at Karin's desk in one of the back rows in the classroom. The two ate their lunch, chatting casually until Karin brought up the basketball game that took place last Friday. "You were there, weren't you? Did you see how cool Sasuke-kun was out there?"

Hinata wouldn't use the word cool, but she did agree that Sasuke looked like a professional from the little she knew about basketball. She was even shocked that Sasuke could manage to keep up with Kiba – and Kiba was the fastest person on the team!

She nodded in response and Karin gave a hearty laugh. "All his muscles flexing and the sweat glistening on his skin – he was totally hot!" She squealed. She was blushing like mad and had quite the perverted grin on her face.

The Hyuga paid her no mind though, and kept on eating her lunch as Karin went on about the cutest boys on the team. "And ugh! Did you _see_ that blond one?" Karin cried, causing Hinata to almost choke on her food. "He hangs out with Sasuke-kun all the time too. Ahh, he's a looker! And he was so cool on the court too, dontcha think Hinata?"

She tried to fight the large blush making its way onto her face but it wasn't working. Of course Hinata saw "the blonde one." Her eyes were practically glued to him the entire time. He looked so different than he usually did – so serious and in control of things. And she truly noticed how much stamina he had – Guy-sensei only switched him out of the game once. And even then Hinata was staring at him as he sat on the bench!

"Um… yes. He looked cool…" She said meekly.

Karin stared at the blushing Hyuga for a while before an impish grin graced her lips. "Come to think of it… Didn't he head straight towards you? You two were _awfully _close."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" She stammered as her redheaded friend chuckled.

"I think you do know. He's your boyfriend, isn't he?"

At that statement, Hinata had calmed down and a wistful look took over her features. "No, he's not." She answered.

Karin took note of this. "But you want him to be." Hinata didn't say another word and Karin hummed in thought. "Well, he seems to like you a whole lot."

The Hyuga shook her head. "No, he's just being nice."

Even though Hinata had no reason to really lie to her, Karin was a bit skeptical. "Nice? He was all over you. I'd love for Sasuke-kun to be that nice to me."

"That's just how Naruto-kun is. And I've already mistaken his kindness for something else once. It would be embarrassing to mistake it once more. Besides, Naruto-kun really likes Sakura-chan." Although her voice was soft and soothing, Karin could hear the sadness laced in it.

Karin had to say, she felt kind of bad for the poor girl. It looked like she was being strung along. She'd have to tell Sasuke to knock some sense into that idiot friend of his. Hinata was Karin's first female friend, and also a bit fragile. She wanted to keep her protected as best as she could.

"Do you need me to eliminate the competition for you?" Karin asked.

Hinata gasped. "K-Karin!"

"Relax, I'm kidding!" She laughed. Suddenly, the sliding door at the front of the classroom shot open, revealing a rather annoyed looking Sasuke. "Ah! Sasuke-kun! Are you here to see me?" Karin cried. He made his way to the back of the classroom.

"No," he replied, much to Karin's displeasure, "I'm here for Hinata. Why'd you bring her here? I told you I didn't want her alone with you and those other two."

Karin waved her hand dismissively. "Why're you getting all worked up? Jugo didn't show up to school today since he's sick and Suigetsu fucked off somewhere for once in his life. Everything's fine."

"Did someone say my name?" Suigetsu asked, entering the classroom from the back door.

"God dammit." Karin and Sasuke muttered simultaneously while Hinata tilted her head to the side in confusion.

The ivory haired teen sipped on a small juice box, looking from his usual friends to the petite white eyed girl with them. "I didn't know we were meeting your girlfriend today Sasuke." He said simply. "And Karin isn't trying to murder her. What a surprise."

"Ugh! Everything was fine until you showed up! Go away! Nobody wants you here!" Karin scowled.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hozuki Suigetsu. And you are?" He gave a toothy grin as he leaned over Karin, who looked ready to knock him right into the wall.

"Ah, H-Hyuga Hinata. It's very nice to meet you."

She felt a little uneasy around him as he inched his face closer to hers. "Ehh, such a soft voice. And I thought all women were as loud as Karin." Was he trying to intimidate her? If so, it was working pretty well. Soon, Hinata realized that she could no longer lean back in her chair and Suigetsu just seemed to be getting closer and closer. All she could see were his huge purple eyes.

"Say something else." He told her. At that moment, his face was gone. She looked to her right to see Karin holding him by the collar of his school shirt, violently shaking him back and forth.

"**Suigetsu you dumbass! You're always running your mouth and doing stupid things! I should kill you!**"

Sasuke groaned as Hinata silently thanked Karin for saving her. No wonder Sasuke didn't want her here by herself. "So… do you like picking friends with the same mannerisms?" Hinata asked, briefly picturing Sakura and Naruto.

"Shut up…" Sasuke mumbled.

(^o^)

Something was definitely off about Sai today. He was sitting in front of his art easel, painting away but his heart didn't seem into it. Hinata also remembered the few times where he gave soft sighs in class. She didn't have a chance to get to talk to him since she spent her lunch with Sakura and Ino, but they always had time to chat in the art club room. Hinata placed the pencil she had been sketching with on the table and decided speak to Sai, hoping to get him to feel better again.

"What's wrong Sai? You've been looking kind of strange all day." Hinata asked, her voice laced with concern.

The artist stopped working on his painting to look at his fellow club member. "Oh, hello Hinata." He spoke. "I've just been very worried about something… For a while now actually."

For a while now? How had she not noticed that something was troubling him before? Being able to read her friends was her specialty. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Sai was a bit uneasy about it at first, but decided that talking to Hinata about it might help him in the long run. After all, she was always kind and very understanding and patient to those around her. She even had the time to deal with Naruto. Sai didn't know how she had the patience.

"Well, I created something…" Hinata nodded, urging Sai to continue. "And I forgot to write my name on it… And now I'm not sure if what I made will be well received or not."

He was being pretty vague, but Hinata pressed further for more details. "Was this a painting or something?"

Sai shook his head. "No, it was a letter."

"A love letter!?" Hinata asked, not even missing a beat. Surprised at her outburst, the artist nodded. "Was it for Ino?" He nodded again.

She was right! Ino said there was "no way in hell that piece of crap could be a love letter" but it turns out that Hinata was correct! "I didn't know you liked Ino." Hinata giggled.

"Yes, she's very interesting." Yup. Sai definitely wrote that letter with no help whatsoever. "How did you know about the letter?"

"Ah, Ino showed it to us in class the other day." Hinata chirped.

"What did she think about it?"

Uh-oh. Hinata hated to be the bearer of bad news but she couldn't just lie to Sai. He had to know the truth. "W-well… she um… didn't take it very well…"

Sai gave a small sigh. "I should have written my name on it…"

_No, that wasn't the problem Sai…_

"How did you come up with what to write?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, I read about it online. To write love letters, one should make it very clear who they are writing about," _That explains Inoshishi instead of Ino._ "Write how they feel about the person," _Sai really must find Ino interesting…_ "And they must write about the positive and interesting things about that person." _Ino's hair being in a ponytail isn't interesting because it's always in a ponytail, and writing about the way she eats is weird, and it's not polite to point out her loud voice, even if it is true!_

"I… I see…" Hinata managed to say, ignoring all of her raging thoughts. "Well, you can always write a new one… And I can help you with it if you'd like!"

Sai's pleasant smile returned and he nodded. "That'd be really helpful actually."

Hinata and Sai spent the rest of the time in the club room writing Ino's love letter, coming up with points to talk about such as her beauty, shining personality and even something a bit quirky like how cute she was when she was flustered. Hinata had convinced him it would be nice to also write about the times that the two of them shared together and found herself giggling when he recalled how much he enjoyed watching the fireworks with her over the summer.

It took longer than expected but the two of them had perfected the love letter. Hinata was sure Ino would love it and appreciate Sai's spectacular penmanship. Once the letter was put in the envelope, Sai pulled out a sticker to seal it.

"W-wait a second!" Hinata cried. "Where did you get that sticker from?"

Sai stared at the scull sticker on his thumb before looking up at Hinata. "Oh, Naruto gave me these when I asked for a sticker to seal it with the last time."

Were all boys around her were clueless when it came to love?

* * *

I needed a little break from the seriousness. Karin and Suigetsu are perfect for that, don't you think? And so is Sai.

Well, look out for chapter 11: October! Weeee! My birthday month! I'm excited!

See you in the next one!


	11. October

Yo! I'm back with chapter 11. This chapter was very fun for me to write.

I'm a terrible person.

Also, I wanted to answer something really quick since a few people have been asking me about Otsutsuki-san. When I first started writing this in April (back when I planned to do only 8 chapters) I had planned for Toneri to be in it. But then I did more planning and decided that I wanted to bring Sasuke in because I felt that Naruto being jealous of Sasuke (since they're friends) would be a lot more complex than Naruto being jealous of Toneri, someone he doesn't really care for.

By time I finished planning, I couldn't fit Toneri anywhere. Instead of trying to awkwardly force him to fit in the story, I decided to cut him out. So Otsutsuki-san doesn't appear in this story, but he might appear in another (if I have the time to write it.)

Well, I've been talking for way longer than I need to be.

Please enjoy!

* * *

**October:** Do you Wanna Fight or Something?

* * *

"They're disgusting." Naruto mumbled.

"They're sickening." Sakura cringed.

"They need to stop." Shikamaru frowned.

Hinata blinked. "O-oh? I think they're really cute."

Ever since Sai gave Ino the love letter he and Hinata worked on together, they were inseparable. Ino would stroll into class with a single red rose to hand to him, and would always cry out, "Sai, my darling! Good morning!" Causing the rest of the class to groan in annoyance.

Sai did come clean about the first love letter though, much to Ino's shock but she readily forgave him, saying that she understood that he wasn't good at conveying his feelings. Currently, Ino sat on Sai's lap, snuggling him while he awkwardly held her and a pink blush colored his usual pale cheeks.

Hinata found the whole thing to be adorable, really. Though, the rest of her friends didn't see it that way.

"You all are just jealous of our love. Right, Sai my love?" Ino cooed and Sai nodded.

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura mumbled, "you better stop before class starts. If sensei comes in here and finds you like that, you'll be sent to Principal Tsunade's office for disorderly conduct."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Yeah, and we all know the personal vendetta she has against you for leaking her secret."

Ino squeaked, jumping right out of her boyfriend's lap. "You said you'd help me keep that a secret! I didn't know I wasn't supposed to talk about it, stop making me look bad!"

"Relax, I didn't tell anybody." He said plainly, placing his arms behind his head and leaning back in his chair.

"Wait," Naruto perked up, "tell anyone about what?"

Shikamaru gave a light chuckle. "See?"

The front door was slammed open so suddenly, pulling everyone from their conversations to look at the ever so stoic Uchiha Sasuke who looked like he was ready to pick anyone apart if they so much as looked at him the wrong way. He trudged to his desk, and sat down with the most furious of expressions.

The Uchiha didn't even look Hinata's way – not once. He looked just like he did when school first started – mean and aloof. The atmosphere in the classroom was as heavy and no one uttered a single word.

Hinata had to admit, she was feeling pretty intimidated right now. One wrong move and Sasuke would probably lash out on her. Then he glanced at her for a moment. Funny; it was as if he knew she was scared. Could Sasuke smell fear?

His glance hadn't lingered on her for long, and Hinata wondered what it could mean – if it meant anything at all. He wasn't like Shikamaru where they could read each other pretty well, and had a communication system built on looks alone.

Speaking of, Hinata shot the prodigy with her most subtle "I'm really scared right now" look to which he replied with the "hang in there, we'll talk after class" look. Soon, the school bell chimed throughout the building, notifying everyone that it was time for class to start.

But their homeroom teacher didn't show up.

Great. Just when everyone needed him to start class so that this awkward tension would disappear, he's running late. How could he be running late!? Hinata _just _saw him in the teacher's office not even 15 minutes ago!

"Sorry I'm late," their teacher said as he entered the front door to the classroom, setting his belonging down on the podium, "a student was sick and I had to… Is everything alright in here?" He asked, finally taking in the atmosphere.

No. Everything wasn't alright. But the students were willing to ignore it and push on with the class.

**-x-**

When their English teacher had her back turned, the boy sitting directly in front of Hinata tossed a folded piece of paper onto her desk. Curious, she unfolded it, only to see that Ino, Naruto and Sakura had written on it.

She certainly didn't see them passing one around. Then again, she was so focused on not annoying the Uchiha next to her that she practically ignored everything around her. Ino had written on it first, meaning that she must've started the note. Hinata had to say, Ino had guts; passing notes while sitting right front and center in the classroom.

Hinata then read the contents of the note:

_So, does anyone know what's up with Sasuke? – Ino_

_I'm not sure… - Sakura_

_Beats me. Like that bastard ever tells us anything. – Naruto_

_Hinata, do you know anything? –Ino_

Her? Why would she know anything about that? She was just as clueless as they were! Hinata wrote her reply and decided that it would be best to send it Naruto's way. Sure, Sakura was in the same row as her, but she wasn't about to pass a note about Sasuke to Sasuke himself, so she passed it to the person behind her and gestured towards Naruto.

15 minutes later, the note found its way onto her desk once more and her eyes slightly widened in surprise.

_Seriously? But he's always talking to you about something nowadays. – Naruto_

_Not even the slightest clue? – Sakura_

_Maybe it's nothing. Maybe he's just extra grouchy today. – Ino_

But it _was_ something. Hinata just couldn't place what. She began to think about when she and Sasuke really started to speak more often. First they had that connection about their fathers, then they spoke about trivial things and hobbies… And then… Oh right! And then at the party, Sasuke opened up to her about his family life.

He was right about having a lot of things on his plate, and she was sure that she was the only one that Sasuke had told about what was going on in his life, from the end of freshman year until now. He told her so many things about his brother leaving, and how his father kind of changed – even the relationship between his father and mother.

He must have been having more family problems.

But Hinata couldn't tell them that! That was Sasuke's personal business that he entrusted her with. She'd be a horrible friend if she went and told them something like that. Hinata hated lying, but she'd do it if it meant that her friend's secret would be saved. Just as she was about to reply, the paper was snatched off of her desk.

Ino wasn't able to see since she had to be on alert because of her position in the classroom, but Naruto and Sakura watched with gaping mouths as Sasuke held the note in his hand, reading over their conversation. He scribbled somethin down, handed the note back to her and resumed note taking, as if nothing happened.

Hinata read the note:

**_You all need to mind your fucking business._**

**-x-**

"So that's what he wrote huh?" Shikamaru asked. He waited for Hinata to be done with her club activities so they could walk home together and talk. The cool October air nipped at her legs and she shivered. She'd have to break out her warm tights soon. "To be honest, Sasuke's kinda right. It is his business. Those three are way too pushy for their own good. How troublesome."

Hinata sighed. When the others found out about what Sasuke had written, they were even more worried and brainstormed all the possible things that could be going on in his life. Hinata meekly voiced that maybe they should all just drop it and leave him alone for now.

Naruto said that he was willing to drop it, as long as Sasuke was willing to do so as well and not use whatever was wrong with him as an excuse to be nasty to people. Hinata was at a loss of what to do. She wanted to shoot Sasuke a text message, but she didn't quite know what to say to get him to feel better.

Hope all is well? Cheer up?

No, he'd certainly be annoyed with her. Hopefully he didn't think that she was going to tell them anything. After that whole note incident, he did kind of side-eye her a few times throughout the school day.

"I hope everything is okay. He looked so much happier before. I'd hate for him fall apart because of his troubles."

"You're so nice Hinata, always looking out for other people. Don't forget to look out for yourself from time to time as well." Hinata gave a small smile, appreciating her friend's concern and nodded. "But I'm being serious. Don't let things get to you. If Sasuke wants to talk, he'll talk. He's done it before hasn't he?"

Shikamaru was right. There was no use in getting all bent out of shape over something Sasuke didn't want to discuss. Hinata thought it was best to change topics now. "So, how has Temari-senpai been lately?" Hinata asked.

Her lazy friend shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I guess she's been okay. She's been studying pretty hard so she hasn't had much time to talk really."

That was pretty unfortunate. Hinata was sure that they'd be speaking pretty much every day. However, they weren't even a couple yet, as Shikamaru said he couldn't give her an answer until the next White Day, which was a little before they graduated.

"Will she be attending the graduation ceremony?" Hinata asked.

Shikamaru waved his hand dismissively. "We've got a while until we graduate. How am I supposed to know this stuff? If she wants to come, then she'll do so, even if I try to stop her."

Hinata's tilted her head in confusion. "You want to stop her? Why?"

"My parents don't really know about her," he sighed, "so they'll make a big deal out of it and it'll be too troublesome. Rather not go through that."

Shikamaru's parents huh? She didn't think they'd be the type to make a fuss about anything, especially since Shikamaru was so against fussing. Then again, children weren't always like parents – she should know. "What are your parents like, Shikamaru-kun?"

He hummed in thought for a moment. "Well, my dad drinks a bit too much and my mom's a troublesome woman, always yelling." When Hinata realized that was all Shikamaru had to say about his parents, she muttered a small "oh."

"What? Were you expecting something else?"

She shook her head. "No… I was just taken aback by how blunt you were about them."

Shikamaru shrugged. He couldn't hide who his parents were. It didn't mean that he loved them any less, he just thought about the first things that came to mind when thinking of his parents. "So, what about yours?"

"M-mine?" Hinata asked, and Shikamaru wondered why she was acting so surprised.

"Yeah. Who else's parents would I be talking about?" He asked, giving her a skeptical look.

Hinata wasn't exactly on good terms with her father as of yet and her mother wasn't with her anymore. She wasn't quite ready to talk about them, but it was only fair seeing as though Shikamru spoke about his own. He didn't say particularly good things but it was something.

Hinata sighed. "Well, my father is a very strict man and from what I remember of my mother, she was very kind."

Shikamaru could see that there was something going on in the Hyuga family, but he didn't press any further. If Hinata wanted to talk about it, she'd let him know. He also noted that Hinata said "what I remember" and assumed that her mom either left them or died. Neither of those scenarios sounded pleasant.

"Sorry about your mom." He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

The petite girl shook her head. "It's alright. I'm just very glad that I got the chance to meet her. Sadly, not everyone does."

The two said goodbye to each other before Shikamaru turned the corner to continue on home. Hinata's words seemed to stick with him. Even though he'd regret it later, maybe he'd help his mother prepare dinner for tonight.

* * *

"Hinata, may I enter?" Neji asked from the other side of the door. Hinata was in the middle of doing homework, but that could wait for a moment. Neji never came to her room unless he had something of importance to speak about, so Hinata gave him the permission to enter.

She placed her polka dotted mechanical pencil on her desk and got up to sit on her bed, patting the spot next to her as an indication for him to sit as well. "Is there something on your mind?" She asked and she watched her cousin take a seat next to her.

Neji was silent for a moment, quite possibly formulating his words correctly, but it was alright – Hinata could wait. "Have you…" he started before taking a small pause, "have you spoken to your father yet? Or at all?"

The mentioning of her father made Hinata grab the nearest pillow and hug it tightly against her. "We say good morning and good night to each other, and he asks me how I'm keeping up with my studies." She mumbled.

Her cousin shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

"No." She answered as quickly as she did firmly. "No, I have not."

"I see."

What felt like an extensive period of time seemed to go by between them, and neither of the two cousins uttered a single word until Hinata's light voice filled the room for a second. "Why do you ask?"

"I only thought that it would be in your best interest to tell him how you feel, and about what you want in life."

Hinata frowned. "But Neji-niisan, you said that you heard the entire thing, didn't you? I already told him how I felt, and we both know how well that turned out. And I can't tell Father about what I want in life."

"And why is that?" Neji asked.

"Because I don't know what I want to do exactly. I would have loved to talk to him and maybe try different hobbies to see if I liked them enough but it was never about me or what I liked to do. Everything was… and still is strictly business." Hinata ran a hand through her silky locks. "If I go to him now and tell him that I'll look even more stupid in front of him than before."

She had already argued with him about not being able to do what she wanted to in life. He'd surely call her a fool for picking a fight about her future without even knowing what it was she was fighting for exactly.

Neji placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Your father doesn't think you're stupid, Hinata. He loves you."

"It would mean a lot more to me if it came from him…" She mumbled into her pillow. "I can't even remember the last time he told me that he loved me or said he was proud. I just… I don't think I'm ready to face him yet."

"It's fine. I won't force you into doing something that your heart isn't set on doing just yet. That's how things become sloppy." Neji told her. "I will say that you can't avoid your father forever, Hinata. There will be a time that you two will have to sit down and discuss it."

Of course she knew that. Hinata wanted to speak to him, but she was at a loss of what to say. As Neji sat up from the bed, Hinata stopped him from leaving. "Did Father send you to come talk to me?" She asked.

Neji shook his head. "No. I sent myself to come talk to you after seeing how dreary he looked in his study. But I digress. You should finish up with your homework."

"Um, do you want to do homework together… Neji-niisan?" Hinata asked before he could even take a step out of the door.

A soft smile graced his lips and he let out a light laugh. "Sure. Let me get my things."

**-x-**

The next morning, Neji and Hinata began their walk to school as they made idle chit chat. She was relieved to see that Neji wasn't insisting for her to talk to her father which she appreciated immensely. He was always so patient and understanding towards her – what would she ever do without him?

"How has the application process been going for you by the way?" Neji asked suddenly.

It was a lot different than she expected, that was for sure. "It's been going well. I actually tried to read some of the questions in English. I was so surprised that I could read and understand a lot of the words! However, I tried saying them out loud and they didn't sound very good." She smiled sheepishly.

Neji laughed. "That's because you always study alone. If you were studying with another person, you two could engage in a conversation and practice your pronunciation."

"Oh! That's a great idea! Let's try it!"

"Eh? Now?" Hinata nodded vigorously and Neji sighed. "I suppose we can."

Hinata cleared her throat. "_Ah, good morning_, Neji-nii – ah! Er… _Brother Neji!_"

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I don't understand what you're doing." He mumbled.

"I wished you a good morning. We went over this in English class…"

"Well yes, I got that, but you don't have to use the English word for brother. Calling me Neji will suffice."

Hinata nodded, and decided to try her hand at saying another phrase. "_How has your day been, Neji?_"

"My day just started." He frowned.

She gave a small pout. "Neji-niisan! You're supposed to respond in English!"

Neji gave a long sigh, internally scolding himself for putting up with her shenanigans. "_It has been berry fine, thank you._" Hinata began to giggle and Neji shot her a slightly annoyed look. "What?"

"Your pronunciation!" She laughed. "It's not _berry_ it's _very_. I think we should practice together all the time."

A light blush hit Neji's cheeks as he was a bit embarrassed. "No. You'll make fun of me the entire time." He grumbled, but Hinata shook her head and latched onto his arm.

"That's not true. You can poke fun at me too."

"Oi! Hinata!" Naruto called from across the street, looking both ways before running towards the Hyuga cousins.

Hinata waved to him with a warm smile spread across her lips. "_Good morning Naruto! How are you doing today?_"

He folded his arms, giving her a skeptical look. "Why're you talking in English? I don't even know what the heck you just said."

"We learned those phrases in middle school, and went over them again during freshman year. How could you not know?" Neji scolded.

Naruto blinked. "Eh? Seriously?"

"You're hopeless." Neji sighed. "You need to know these things."

"I'm never gonna need to speak English. This is Japan; who speaks English here?" Naruto cackled.

Hinata gave him a look of concern. "Naruto-kun, you need to know these things to pass English class or you'll be held back for another year."

His laughter subsided, and shock washed over his face. "Crap! Seriously!?"

"Yes, and for the English portion of college entrance exams…" She added.

Naruto didn't say anything for a while, realizing that he was pretty much screwed if he didn't shape up soon. "Please!" He cried, throwing his arms over Hinata, who let out a small squeak in surprise. "Teach me everything you know!"

"You're _really _hopeless." Neji muttered in annoyance.

**-x-**

Sitting next to Sasuke in class used to be a lot of fun. Now it's been quite taxing on Hinata. It was hard to tell if he was glaring at her or looking out the window and she just happened to be in the way. She wasn't going to lie, she was pretty scared to look him in the eye.

But she actually did look him in the eye today, but not on purpose!

After lunch ended and their History teacher walked in, Hinata stopped taking notes and began to fiddle with her pen. She was rapidly moving it back and forth between her thumb and index finger, as if it were a fan. Next thing she knew, it flew out of her grasp and hit Sasuke on the shoulder.

She froze up when she heard the sound of the pen hitting his shoulder and could feel a pair of eyes on her. To fix the situation, Hinata slowly turned to her right to mouth a small apology, but was met face to face with Sasuke's steely gaze.

However, his eyes didn't look as angry as she originally thought. They looked a little sad actually; tired too. Was he not getting enough sleep? Hinata war ready to mouth the words "are you okay" but Sasuke's face left her sight in a flash.

He leaned down to pick up her pen that she so carelessly let fly out of her hand and tossed it on her desk before returning to the lesson. He didn't even give her a chance to say thank you.

When school finally ended and their teacher dismissed class, Hinata thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to talk to her brooding friend. "U-um, Sasuke-kun?" She called out, right as he stood up.

He didn't hightail out of the classroom like she half expected him to, but he wasn't looking at her either. His gaze was focused straight ahead of him, and he let out a low grunt, indicating that he was acknowledging her. "Um… Are you okay…?" She squeaked nervously.

Sasuke turned to face her. "Fine, thanks." Was what he said before packing the rest of his things and leaving the classroom.

Now, Hinata knew that Sasuke was most certainly not fine, but he had left before she had the chance to say anything else. Maybe it was a good thing that he left so suddenly. What was she even going to say to him after he told her that he was fine?

Are you sure? No you're not?

Those were ridiculous. As if Sasuke would just break down and tell her everything if she asked if he was sure. And if she told him that he wasn't okay, what was the point of asking him if he was in the first place if she already knew the answer?

"You okay Hinata?" Kiba asked, and she gasped in surprise. When did he get here?

"I'd take that as a 'no'." Shino said.

Hinata shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine! I was only thinking about something, and then you surprised me."

"About what?" The shaggy haired teen asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Shino asked. "She's thinking about Sasuke."

Darn Shino and his logic! Now Kiba was bound to tease her about it. She could see the glint in his eyes.

He moved closer to her with an impish grin across his face. "Seriously? Have you stopped crushing on Naruto then?"

"K-Kiba-kun!" She cried and he backed away with a laugh.

"You know I'm only kidding! But, seriously though. What for? Isn't he always that moody? It'll all blow over eventually."

Hinata shook her head. "No, this is different. He actually looked sad you guys…"

Kiba blinked. "Isn't that what moody means?"

"Well, moody is more of an irritable, gloomy mix and fluctuates between –"

"You guys, this is serious." Hinata scolded. Her hands were balled up into fists now, and she gave a small pout. Kiba and Shino exchanged looks before giving Hinata looks of sympathy. "I thought leaving him alone would be a good idea but he seems a bit too prideful to ask for help. Do I attempt to talk to him or should I just leave him alone?"

Shino hummed in thought for a moment as he folded his arms. "I think you should do what you feel is right." He finally answered. "Why? Because he will appreciate the sentiment since you two are friends."

Hinata smiled. Maybe Shino was right. Showing signs of support would help Sasuke feel better.

* * *

The week seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, and she still hadn't come up with anything to attempt to cheer Sasuke up. Hinata was starting to think that this was all pointless. Even if she did come up with something, it would be in vain it seemed, since the Uchiha walked into class pretty much emotionless.

And he was late.

Sasuke was _never_ late.

He didn't apologize to their homeroom teacher on behalf of his tardiness, nor did he say good morning – or anything for that matter! He simply strolled by and made his way to his seat, not even bothering to pull out his notebook and take notes.

Whatever was bothering Sasuke seemed to worsen as time progressed, and Hinata felt like a terrible friend. Maybe she was also adding onto his list of problems – that his own friend who he confided in was too scared to talk to him.

What was she supposed to do?

Maybe a quick note would suffice. Hinata tore out one of the sheets from her note book and wrote to him that she was sorry she hadn't spoken to him in a while. Although she had plenty of chances to hand him the note, she was scared that he'd lash out on her for trying to help.

She mustered up all the strength she could to toss it onto his desk and he gave a small sigh before opening it. His eyes scanned over it for a long time – so long that she thought Sasuke was rereading it.

Then he crumpled it and shoved it in his pocket, not even giving her a second glance. To say that she wasn't devastated would have been a lie. Was he upset with her for taking so long? Or maybe he just didn't want to be bothered today. If only she could get a better read on him, she'd know for sure. Sasuke was just so unpredictable sometimes.

**-x-**

The school bell rung out, not only signaling the end of the school day, but the end of the week. Once their teacher dismissed class, chatter about weekend plans filled the air and many of the students had piled out of the classroom.

Uchiha Sasuke was not one of them. He sat at his desk as calm and collected as possible in his usual pose with his elbows on his desk and his fingers intertwined with each other. He was only looking straight ahead with no incentive to get up so he could pack his bag and leave.

"Oi Sasuke," Naruto called to him, standing in front of his desk. Sasuke didn't even spare him a glance. It slightly irked him, but he was able to brush it off. "Guy-sensei wants to speak with you. He's in the teacher's office and he said it was important."

Sasuke didn't utter a word. Instead, his gaze shifted towards the window. Naruto clenched his teeth. It wasn't like that jerk was spacing out or anything – he was purposely ignoring him and Naruto didn't take being ignored quite well.

His eyes narrowed and he frowned. "I _said _Guy-sensei is waiting for you in the teacher's office. He wants to talk to you." When he didn't receive a response, Naruto was done with being nice. "Are you serious right now!? I said –!"

"I heard you the first time." Sasuke finally answered indignantly. "Must you always raise your voice?"

"I wouldn't have had to raise my voice if you had just answered me the first time, you asshole!"

Suddenly Ino's voice had reached them. "Naruto, just relax a little, okay? I'm sure Sasuke'll go when he's good and ready."

The blond turned is head to the girl on the other side of the room and gave a scowl. "No! I'm so sick and tired of everyone babying him because of some stupid problem he refuses to get over. I'm not gonna let him be an asshole to me because he's moody – screw that!" With that, Naruto slammed his hands on the desk in anger. "Get up! You can't make other people wait on you like it's their damn job! They've got other things to do!"

Ino saw Sasuke shoot Naruto the coldest glare she had ever seen. It was sending chills up her spine and it wasn't even directed towards her. "Don't talk about things you know nothing about. Hmph, it's not like this is the first time you've done it, and won't be the last so I don't know why I'm wasting my breath."

His voice was harsh and had taken Naruto by surprise by a spit second before he clenched his fists. "What the hell is wrong with you!? Do you wanna fight or somethin'!?"

Slowly, Sasuke got up from his seat. His eyes were closed, and he wore a smirk. "I guess it can't be helped can it? It's probably the only thing that'll get you to shut up."

**-x-**

Hinata's feet carried her as fast as they possibly could, and she was running out of breath, but she couldn't allow herself to stop. Ino had burst into the art club room to tell her and Sai something, but they sounded like incoherent babbles. All she knew was that Naruto and Sasuke were involved.

She prayed that Ino was just being dramatic as usual, or that Naruto had gotten Sasuke to cheer up again. Those thoughts were quickly discarded when she could see a small crowd gathering around the front door of classroom 3-2 and she could hear the crashing and banging of chairs and desks.

The three of them had to push and shove their way through the crowd to get inside, and that was proving difficult since no one wanted to budge. Hinata silently told herself that she disliked these people, for willingly watching something terrible unfold between her two friends and were doing nothing to stop them.

"Move!" She cried, having had enough of the crowd around her and slowly, space was made to accommodate her. Sai and Ino followed her lead, making their way to the front of the crowd. When Hinata could finally see, she gasped.

Desks and chairs were toppled over, and the contents in some of the desks were scattered all over the floor. There they were; Sasuke and Naruto; fighting. They both had looked so beaten up already. There were blood stains under Sasuke's nose, and his uniform was dirty and tattered. Naruto's hair was all over the place, even more so than usual. His black school jacket must've fell on the ground somewhere, since he only wore the white short sleeved school shirt. She could see light bruising on his arms already.

What made her cry out in horror was the sight of Sasuke's fist connecting with Naruto's cheek. It was as if it all happened in slow motion – the rippling of his skin against the force of the punch. Naruto stumbled backwards but was able to stop himself from falling. He made a face, as he could taste the iron in his mouth. Naruto took a few steps forward as Sasuke watched intently, waiting for him to make a move. What he wasn't expecting was for Naruto to spit the blood in his mouth at him. Sasuke cringed when it landed on his uniform jacket.

"You're disgusting." He seethed, removing his jacket and casting it off to the side. It was then that Hinata could see bruises on Sasuke's arms as well.

Naruto wiped the access blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Fuck you."

She shivered. Never had she heard Naruto, the boy who was always so happy and cheerful, sound so livid. This was the first time she truly felt scared of Naruto, and she didn't like it. She couldn't watch any of this anymore. Between the cheering behind her from school mates and her two friends ready to pummel each other into the ground, Hinata decided she had enough of this.

"Stop it you two!" She cried, causing both boys to look her way. Sasuke quickly focused his attention back on Naruto.

"Stay out of it." He warned.

"Is that what you tell everyone!?" Naruto cried. "Are you gonna go pick a fight with Hinata too!?"

Sasuke scoffed. "Wasn't it you who asked if I wanted to fight? If anyone, you're the one who's picking fights."

"Why you –! Augh! Lemme go!" He cried as Kiba and Sai held him by his arms, stopping him from lunging at Sasuke who only smirked.

"Good. Hold him there. I'll make this quick." Before he could take another step further, Neji and Shikamaru restrained him, much to his outrage. "What are you two doing!?" He cried, struggling against their grip. "Let go of me!"

Naruto thrashed about, and Kiba and Sai were having a hard time containing him. "Naruto, chill out for a second!" Kiba growled.

"No! I'm tired of him! Always doing what he pleases! Always thinking about himself!" He shrieked.

"What the hell do you know about anything!? I told you to keep out of my business! Stop talking about things you have no clue about!" Sasuke shot back, resisting against Shikamaru and Neji's hold on him.

"If you want people to keep out, fine! But don't use your problems as an excuse to be nasty to everyone! I don't care what you're pissy about today! Stop being so damn selfish!"

"You're the one being selfish! I didn't ask you to do anything for me so stop making me out to be the bad guy just because I won't accept it! You all know nothing about me! Nothing about what I go through every day; having to be nothing but a useless puppet to my family and then coming here only to have you all stick you're noses in it! And for what!? So you can all mock me!?"

It was then that Sasuke had lost it, and every secret he was hiding had come to light. Being heir to the company; the near bankruptcy of his family; the very recent divorce of his parents. When he finally finished, his head hung low, as if he was waiting for someone, anyone to point and laugh at the prestigious Uchiha family and at him. No one uttered a word. Soon, Kakashi as well as a few other teachers came in to handle the situation, assigning students to help clean the classroom while they sorted out the fight between Naruto and Sasuke.

Sakura, who had heard the entire fight from outside of the classroom, stayed back to help clean. The desks and chairs were finally put back in order, and most of the books and items were put back into the desks of their respective owners. One of the last items she had picked up was a note book and she was sure it was Naruto's – there was no mistaking that handwriting. When she stood up to put it away, something had slipped out.

A picture?

She bent down to pick it up, and she immediately hated the feeling that overcame her. It was a picture of Naruto and Hinata during the class trip back in May. They looked so happy together. And she felt happy to see that they were but at the same time she just felt so…

"Jealous?"

Sakura gasped, and turned to see who else was in the room with her. Karin had stood behind her with her hands on her hips. For once, she wasn't smirking or being condescending towards her. The redhead looked serious. "I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear this from, but you've got to make up your mind soon. Her heart is on the line too." And with that, she left, leaving Sakura alone in the classroom once more.

So Hinata liked Naruto too. How did she not notice before?

Bearing that in mind, Sakura told herself that she would follow Karin's advice and made the decision to get herself together.

* * *

"You really think that'll work?" Sakura asked. She, Ino and Hinata were having lunch together and Hinata just so happened to bring up attempting to cheer Sasuke up. It was Monday, and both he and Naruto were suspended for their fight. After what Sasuke revealed on Friday, Hinata thought it would be nice to let him know that everyone did care about him.

"Yes. Sasuke may be a bit standoffish but he isn't heartless. I'm sure we can find a way to cheer him up. I'm just not sure what could possibly do that…" Hinata mumbled.

Ino took a spoonful out of her pudding cup, thinking of anything that could get Sasuke to bounce back to his old sarcastic self. "Oh!" She cried, with pudding still in her mouth.

Sakura scoffed. "Eww! Don't talk with your mouth full, you pig!"

The blond did as she was told, but decided to ignore Sakura's comment. "We could go to my parent's shop and get him a bouquet of flowers. Everyone loves flowers." She took another spoonful of her pudding cup into her mouth before waving the spoon between her thumb and index finger. "We could even attach a note too!"

"What did I just say about talking with your mouth full?" Sakura scolded and if she were a child. Ino only huffed in response.

"I think flowers might be a bit too flashy…" Hinata thought aloud, causing Ino and Sakura to redirect their attention towards her. "What if we cook him something?"

Sakura thought that was a perfect idea and was about to voice that until Ino gave a snort. "Only if you cook it Hinata. If we let Forehead here into the kitchen, she'll give him food poisoning for sure." The blonde laughed, causing Sakura to clutch her chopsticks so tightly that they snapped.

"Why don't you say that to my face you bimbo!" Sakura cried, and Ino inched closer to her pink haired friend's face wearing a scowl.

"I _said_ you'll give Sasuke food poisoning if you cook anything!"

"Why you little –!"

Sakura and Ino's little squabble was in fact quite comical, but Hinata had to break it up. They were getting nowhere! "G-girls, please calm down! We don't have to cook anything, let's and think of something else, okay?"

Hinata gave a small squeak when her pink haired friend's violent gaze shifted towards her. "Are you saying that because you don't think I can cook either!?" She cried.

The dark haired teen shook her head quickly. "N-no! That's not it at all! I –!"

"Are you kidding me Forehead!? Everyone_ knows_ you can't cook! It's common sense!" Ino countered and Sakura began to pinch her cheeks, stretching them out as far as she could.

"Shut your mouth!" She cried, right before Ino retaliated by grabbing the sides of her face as well.

"Make me!" Ino roared in a slurred voice.

Hinata sighed. Maybe she'd just have to try again another day.

**-x-**

All of Hinata's notes for today were copied neatly and she tucked them into one of her folders before heading out of the school building. While they weren't able to think of anything to cheer Sasuke up, she at least thought it would be nice to provide the boys with the notes and homework they would miss out on for the week.

She couldn't be in two places at once and asked Sakura to help her out, and she quickly agreed. Her pink haired friend even wrote Naruto's address down for her on a piece of paper and winked. Although she was sure that Sakura was just teasing her a little bit, she was certain her face heated up.

Honestly, Hinata wanted to visit Sasuke's home. Reason one being that she already knew where it was without any directions and reason two was that she wanted to apologize. The third reason was that Hinata was very nervous about going into her crushes home and was afraid she'd screw up even the simplest forms of common courtesy and embarrass herself.

She assured herself that it wouldn't have been so bad. Hinata had already met his mother, and she seemed to absolutely adore her. Everything would be fine. Kushina would answer the door, attack her with hugs and pleasant words, call her son down so that she could properly give him the notes and she could be on her merry way.

Yes, that was the way it was going to go. That was the way it _needed_ to do. If it happened any other way, she would probably die from embarrassment. A few minutes later, Hinata found herself in front of a familiar, regular sized home. There was a nice looking red car in the driveway, and laundry was hanging from the top balcony.

Just to make sure, Hinata read the family name on the plaque. "Uzumaki…" She read aloud. Yup, this was the place. She took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell, praying for Kushina to open the door. She waited for a minute and no one came to the door. That was weird. Did everyone go out? Hinata was about to ring the door a second time before the door swung open and she was met with blonde hair and shining blue eyes.

And Hinata just stared at him with her mouth slightly ajar. That man looked almost exactly like Naruto… Or should she say the opposite? That Naruto looked almost exactly like this man? Whatever the case, Hinata just couldn't take her eyes off of him and he tilted his head in question.

"Um, may I help you young lady?" He wasn't annoyed with her since his voice was so smooth and soothing. Snapping out of her trance, a pink blush rushed over Hinata's cheeks as she realized she had been staring at this man for a very long time.

"I-I'm sorry! I just wanted to know if… If um… If Naruto-kun is home!" She squeaked, hiding part of her face behind her school bag. The man in front of her gave a chuckle before smiling down at her warmly. He was so tall. It should have been intimidating but this man was like a gentle giant.

"And may I ask your name?"

Duh! How stupid was she? Just asking for people without telling them who she was or what business she had there. "Um… My name is Hyuga Hinata… a-and I'm a classmate of Naruto-kun's. I just wanted to hand him the notes for today…"

"I see." He beamed. Did award winning smiles run in his family or something!? "I'm Namikaze Minato, Naruto's father. It's always nice to meet Naruto's friends from school."

"Ah, i-it's very nice to meet you too!" Hinata bowed. Naruto's father huh? The difference in surnames threw her off though, but that wasn't important. The Hyuga opened her school bag, fishing for her folder. Once she found it, Hinata handed it to Minato. "These are all of our notes for today. Um, I didn't want him to fall behind so I made copies. I should probably go now… Again, it was nice meeting you."

Minato gave another one of those award winning smiles. "Oh, come on in and say hi. I'm sure Naruto would love to see a familiar face." Hinata stared at his father a while before reluctantly nodding. Why couldn't she say no to these people!?

Hinata mumbled a small "ojama shimasu." She took off her shoes near the doorway and Minato provided her with some house slippers. "Naruto! A friend from school is here to see you!" He called out.

"Tell em to go back home!" Naruto hollered from his room.

Minato only shot Hinata a grin. "His room is right upstairs, third room on your right." Then Hinata watched as the blond man entered into a different room, leaving her alone in the living room. She treaded carefully up the stairs and found herself in front of Naruto's room.

Her hands here trembling and her heart was pounding faster than it ever had in her life and she was not exaggerating this time! She somehow found the courage to knock on the door, and when no one answered, she opened it.

"I said – ah! Hinata!" Naruto cried in surprise. "Uh… Sorry for yelling at you like that. Oh, did you come here by yourself? I didn't think you'd remember how to get here since you came with Kiba last time." But Hinata didn't respond. Her hand covered her mouth as she took in the sight of Naruto all battered and bruised up. Noticing that she was upset about his bruises, Naruto scrambled to find a way to comfort her. "Ah, it's okay Hinata! Don't be sad! I'm okay, really!"

She gave a small pout and Naruto put on his best reassuring smile. "Come on over and sit." Hinata closed the door behind her, and did as she was told, leaving the folder with the notes on her lap. She stared at him for such a long time before instinctively reaching out to gently touch the cheek where Sasuke's punch landed. It was swollen. Naruto quickly placed his hand over hers. "Don't worry. When it heals, I'll be cute again, right?"

For once, Hinata didn't blush. Her pout was still etched onto her face and Naruto sighed, admitting defeat. "I'm sorry you had to see it. Did you see all of it?"

"Only when he hit you here…" She croaked. Naruto tightened his grip on her hand just a little before moving her hand away from his face. "Why did you two…?"

"I… don't really want to talk about it right now. I'm sorry, Hinata." Naruto mumbled, and Hinata shook her head. There was silence between them, but it wasn't awkward. It was actually a bit calming, especially since Naruto was still holding her hand, and would give it a light squeeze from time to time.

"Oh!" Hinata gasped. Naruto released the grip on her hand as she handed him a folder with a ton of papers in them. "These are the notes for today. I didn't want you to fall behind or anything, so I thought I should make copies and give them to you." She smiled.

Naruto accepted them. "Thanks. I really appreciate it. Are you um… Are you coming tomorrow to hand me the notes again?"

"Ah, If that's okay with you."

He chuckled lightly. Hinata was just too cute sometimes. "Of course it's okay with me. I was worried I wouldn't get to see your face for an entire week."

Now Hinata's face began to flush. "D-don't say things like that, it's embarrassing…" she mumbled. Naruto only laughed, defending himself by saying that he was only telling the truth.

"Oh yeah. Um, about your father…" Hinata started.

"Yeah, you met my old man didn't you? He's really cool huh?"

Hinata nodded. His dad did seem pretty cool and calm, even when Naruto was shouting at him earlier. Quite the opposite of excitable and rambunctious Naruto. Hinata was sure that he took after his mother in the personality department. "I was just wondering why you two don't share the same last name."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Oh that…" He mumbled. "Well, my mom was pregnant with me before she and my dad got married. Apparently, my dad's mom didn't really like my mom a whole lot, so she refused to acknowledge that I was his kid, even after I was born. Now that I look back on it, it's pretty interesting, seeing myself in pictures as a baby on my parents wedding day." He laughed.

Hinata couldn't help but giggle too. He even showed her a few of the wedding photos with his parents holding him. After that, the two of them chatted just as they would when everything was normal. When it was time to leave, Hinata promised that she'd stop by to keep him company for the rest of the week.

Maybe being suspended wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Again, I really had a ton of fun writing this one (and I'm glad I did because I was super excited to write this chapter) and I'm excited about writing the next two chapters!

Bear with me people; only 5 more chapters to go! Look out for chapter 12: November!

See you in the next one!


	12. November

Hi again! I'm back with chapter 12!

I just wanted to say, I've started some internships now which include a lot of writing. So, I may not have as much time to spend writing this story, meaning it **probably** won't get updated every 3-5 days as usual. I say probably because I know I'm gonna procrastinate on work and write this story, like who am I kidding?

I also want to apologize for horrible errors in my chapters. I go over them and read them out loud (as much as I hate doing that) but I don't have a beta so reading 8,000 words over and over again makes me tired so I'm bound to miss things. Again, sorry about that and thanks for still sticking with me!

Alright, enough of me chatting.

Please enjoy!

* * *

**November:** I Want to Make Up with You

* * *

"A play?" Karin asked before munching on some much needed food. She and Hinata were having lunch in her classroom today. Even though she and Sasuke hadn't really spoken much since last month, he followed her into class 3-3 and sat at someone else's desk to eat lunch by himself while he kept an eye on her.

Sasuke sure was a strange person, but at least she knew that he still valued their friendship. That or he just _really _didn't trust the thought of her alone with Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo. "Yes. We went a very stereotypical route and chose to do Romeo and Juliet."

The redhead grinned. "Are you playing Juliet then? You'd make a cute one. You're already princess-like."

A light blush crept onto her face. "N-no, I could never do something like that." She said, waving the notion off with her hand.

"Why? Are you shy or something? Don't tell me it's because Naruto's Romeo." She giggled.

She wished Naruto was playing as Romeo. He would have looked so handsome up on stage. "Actually, Sasuke-kun is playing Romeo." Karin almost spit out the juice she was drinking and began to cough uncontrollably.

Yes, Uchiha Sasuke was playing Romeo Montague for their last high school culture festival. None of the boys had volunteered to play the lead role, so Neji asked for any nominations. One girl had voiced that Sasuke should have the lead role and the classroom went crazy. Despite his objections, Neji said that there was no one else willing to do it and everyone seemed to want Sasuke to take the role so it just became his.

The same girl had also nominated Hinata as Juliet, and Hinata could have sworn she was going to faint. Standing up on stage in front of hundreds of people while reciting outdated lines of a play by a man obsessed with penis jokes? No thanks!

Ino had come to her rescue, saying that she always wanted to play a princess and be in the spotlight. A few girls argued with her, wanting only to share the spotlight with Sasuke, but the boisterous blonde turned out to be the victor in the end.

What had surprised Hinata was that Sakura's hand wasn't among the few to shoot up in the air at the mentioning of Juliet. Instead, she just sat there, calmly listening to the discussion. Something was a little different about Sakura, but Hinata wasn't able to place her finger on it.

Soon, Karin's squeals of delight had brought her back to Earth. "Ugh! I have to see Sasuke in action!" She cried, and Hinata could see Sasuke cringe through her peripheral view. "So, what part did you get?"

Actually, Hinata didn't get any part. Kiba nominated her as head costume designer, and everyone just seemed to agree after he showed off the hat she made him for Christmas, despite her protests. Hinata wanted to work with Sai on backgrounds and props, but that didn't seem likely. Sure, Hinata was good at knitting and knew a few basic stitches, but that didn't mean that she knew about the art of dressmaking.

To remedy that, Hinata took a bunch of books on how to make garments out of the library and watched a ton of DIY videos online. She even practiced draping and stitching pieces of cloth together as well. She wasn't working alone, so that was a relief, and so far her group had finished a few garments. It was actually pretty fun; sketching and draping and having her friends try on the clothing that she made with her own hands.

"I'm only making the costumes." Hinata answered and Karin gasped. She moved closer to her and murmured,

"You are!? Make sure to make Sasuke look extra sexy in his costume." Although there was a glare on her glasses from the lights above them, Hinata didn't miss the wink she gave her. Sasuke's costume, or the sketch of Sasuke's costume she should say, wasn't "sexy" but she was fairly certain that he'd look very dapper in it.

In her sketch, she had planned for Sasuke to wear a long sleeveless jacket, which she decided would be black with gold trim. The tunic underneath would be red and would reach his thighs. She also decided to put him in white tights, but she didn't tell him that part yet.

"I'll do my best?" Hinata smiled nervously as Karin went on about how dreamy the Uchiha would look on stage.

(^o^)

"Follow me close, for I shall speak to them. Gentlemen, good den; a word with one of you!"

Hinata was supposed to be sewing Lady Capulet's dress, but her eyes were so fixated on Naruto at the front of the classroom, acting out one of the scenes of the play. He was so animated and focused; it was so enticing to watch. A small blush grew on her face as she watched him pull out a fake sword, ready to prepare for battle with Kiba, or should she say Mercutio.

Naruto looked like he was having so much fun and that made her happy.

"Are you gonna finish that outfit or just watch Naruto all day?" Shikamaru asked quietly, causing her face to redden with embarrassment as she scrambled to pick up her needle and resume making the garment once more.

Her lazy friend eyed her for a moment before giving a small laugh. "But he is pretty good at it. It's his calling." Shikamaru resumed work also, fixing the hem of a skirt. Hinata nodded, but kept her eyes on her work, as she was still embarrassed about being caught. Their conversation ended there, and they could hear Kiba over exaggerating his death.

"Cut!" Shino cried, pointing his rolled up script at the shaggy haired teen. "Kiba, you're over acting. Just die naturally."

"Being stabbed isn't a natural way to die!" He argued, lifting his face up from the floor. As Shino explained what he meant, Shikamaru turned to face Hinata.

"I don't think this is a good idea."

Hinata stopped working for a moment to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"Having Naruto play Tybalt. He and Romeo have a fighting scene. You remember the last time Naruto and Sasuke fought, don't you?"

How could she forget it? Everyone at school talked about it, and she was reminded of it when she saw Naruto's face over the week he was suspended. Shikamaru was right. Those two hadn't even reconciled their problem with each other. Having them around each other was waiting for another world war to start.

But Hinata tried to remain positive. "It'll be okay. Lee-san is in charge of choreographing the fight scenes, and I'm sure that they'll be able to act mature enough to –"

"Ugh! Sasuke, you did that on purpose, you asshole!"

Well, there went Hinata's line of defense.

"Of course I did. Romeo kills Tybalt, does he not?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question.

Naruto began waving around his fake sword in annoyance. "Not in the first two seconds of the fight!"

"Well, I guess I forgot."

"Bullshit!"

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked in an attempt to get them to stop. "I-I still have to take your measurements for your costume…"

Shino gave a nod. "Go ahead Naruto. We'll just practice a different scene in the meantime."

The blond reluctantly followed instructions, joining Hinata in the back of the classroom. He was a bit annoyed with Sasuke, but those feelings died down as Hinata was so close to him, pressing the tape measure on his chest and down his back.

Now he was annoyed at himself for being so tense around her. When she finished jotting down his measurements, she handed the elegant dress she was working on to Shikamaru. "I'm finished with the dress. Can you iron it for me please while I get started on something else?" She asked. Shikamaru nodded, and went out to complete the task as Hinata began working on stitching some trousers.

Naruto stayed by Hinata's side, not in the mood to act anymore. He watched her eyes focus on every single detail and fond it cute when she bit her lip in concentration. To distract himself from that thought, he leafed through her sketchbook. Some of the pager were filled with little doodles while others had semi-realistic drawings of people or objects. What caught his eye were the designs she created for their costumes.

Hinata had put so much detail into them, not only by the drawings, but by the little notes she wrote on the sides. "These are really amazing." Naruto said, astonished as he flipped through each page.

The Hyuga looked up from sewing and gave a sheepish smile. "You think so? I had a lot of fun designing them with Miyamoto-san and Tachibana-san. And Shikamaru-kun is a really fast tailor. I don't think we would have finished the amount that we have done without him."

The blond chuckled. "I didn't even know he could sew. But you know, you look really happy doing this kind of stuff. You always get this really huge smile on your face when you complete an outfit." Hinata could feel her cheeks redden. Was he always watching her so closely?

"Thank you." She was finally able to say with a smile Naruto never got tired of looking at.

**-x-**

Hiashi would always watch from his study as his daughter bought bags of clothes in and out of the house. He spent the first day wracking his brain for all the possible reasons she could have been carrying those items. The second day, he overheard his nephew saying something to his daughter about making sure the outfits were completed on time and remembered that the culture festival was happening soon.

On the third night, Neji had approached him in his study to tell him that their class would be putting on the play Romeo and Juliet and asked if he would be able to attend. "I don't know…" Hiashi sighed. "I have a lot of work to do this weekend."

Neji's serious expression did not change. "Hinata will be terribly disappointed if she knew you wouldn't be attending." At his statement, Hiashi bit his bottom lip. He was certain that Hinata wanted nothing to do with him after their argument before the big party. "Even though it doesn't seem like it, she just wants to be praised by you. She's been working hard every day; designing and sewing while keeping up with her studies."

"And you're sure she wants me there?" Hiashi asked.

His nephew nodded. "Hinata loves you with all of her heart and wants to make you proud." He paused for a moment. "However, Hinata wants to make herself proud too." With that, Neji bowed and wished his uncle a good night.

Hiashi spent another hour or so in his study before turning in for bed. Before doing so, he wanted to speak to his eldest daughter for at least a minute; to tell her how much he loved her. The crack underneath her door emitted light, so he was sure that she was awake. However, when he knocked on her door, she didn't answer.

He gave her a minute before opening her bedroom door. She was sitting at her desk, pieces of fabric littered the floor and the desk. Some dresses and tunics were on hangers and spread across her bed. Another garment was on the desk, but was trapped underneath her arms as she was using it as a pillow.

Hinata had fallen asleep while working on the costumes for her classmates, and Hiashi gave a small sigh. She was definitely going to wake up with a pain in her neck in the morning. He didn't want to disturb her, and took down a blanket to drape over her shoulders.

Her father shut the lights off and gave a small smile. "Do your best, Hinata," was the last thing he said before closing the door quietly.

* * *

"O Romeo, Romeo! Where for art thou Romeo?" Ino cried as she entered the classroom in her extravagant blue and white ball gown. There were only a couple of hours before the play would start, and everyone was scrambling to put the finishing touches on backgrounds and props, finish any incomplete garments and study lines again.

As Ino completed her monologue, Sasuke spoke up. "I take thee at thy word: Call me love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth, I will never be Romeo."

The blonde sighed. "Sasuke, stop making it sound sarcastic! It's supposed to be romantic, not a comedy!"

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing romantic about changing your name to be with a girl you just met."

"Has anyone seen my sword?" Tenten asked as she searched for the item in question.

Lee shrugged. "No, I have not! But I will search for it as best as I can!"

"Lee! It's in your hand!" Neji pointed his index finger at the weapon with Tenten's name on it.

Lee laughed, handing the sword back to her. "Sorry Tenten!"

"Hinata! I can't find my trousers for my costume!" Kiba panicked.

"Me neither! Where'd you put 'em!?" Naruto cried. The two of them were wearing everything else that was a part of their costume but had their boxers on instead of just wearing their regular school pants. Hinata swore she was going to die from a heart attack after seeing the blond in his frog themed undies.

"Are you two stupid!?" Neji cried. "Ugh, someone get them their pants, please!"

"I'm on it." Shikamaru muttered, looking through the piles of clothing on one of the desks. "Man this is so troublesome."

Just then, Neji could hear Sakura shriek. "Sai! Watch where you're painting! You almost got it on my dress!"

"Sai!" Ino called. "Do I you think I look pretty in my dress?"

"…Beautiful." He answered with a rosy hue on his cheeks.

She squealed, latching on to Sasuke's arm and crushing it, causing him to wince in pain. "Did you hear that!? He thinks I'm beautiful!"

"You're about to be black and blue if you don't get off of me, Ino!" Sasuke cried out, slightly in pain, mostly in annoyance.

Saying that class 3-2's room was hectic was quite the understatement of the year.

(^o^)

"Here it is, the day that we've all been preparing for." Neji formed the entire class in a circle after he and a few other students helped to set up the stage behind the red curtain. Students, family members and other guests were still piling in. There was sure to be a full house today, especially since there had been talk going around that Sasuke was playing Romeo and Ino was playing Juliet. Who wouldn't want to see two of the most popular seniors in school as the lead roles in a play?

"Remember, if there are wardrobe malfunctions, Hinata and Shikamaru are standing by. Sai, you and everyone else who worked on props need to be quick and change props each scene. Someone needs to hold the ladder for the balcony scene, just for extra security for Sasuke." Neji said before looking from Sasuke to Naruto. "And you two better not kill each other on stage."

It was silent for a moment, before the two received nudges from those next to them. "Okay, okay." They muttered in unison.

"Yoshi! We can do this!" Lee cried, pumping his fist in the air.

"Yeah!" The class cheered, aside from Neji, Sasuke and a few others. Everyone took their places before the curtains rolled up. Hinata could barely contain her excitement as she watched from the side of the stage. Everyone was doing wonderfully, especially Naruto who had just entered from stage right. The way that the spotlight hit him; the way his gruff voice spoke; how he moved around while engaging in one of the fight scenes… She sighed. He was just so perfect.

There was even a point in time where he caught her watching him and he gave a quick wink right before it was his turn to recite his line. Hinata blushed and buried her face in her hands. She did perk up however when she could hear the cries of Sasuke's name from the audience. He hadn't even said a word yet and they were going insane.

"Annoying, huh?" Naruto mumbled, standing right behind her. He rested his chin on her shoulder, and she felt paralyzed.

"I… I wouldn't say that."

The blond gave a soft chuckle. "You're too nice." For a few scenes, Naruto stood by the white eyed beauty as they watched their classmates act. They chatted here and there, and Hinata would laugh quietly at any of the jokes he made until someone called out to him.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru hissed. "Stop flirting with Hinata and get ready to go on stage!"

At this, Naruto's cheeks reddened and he pulled away from her, raising his fist at his lazy friend in anger. "Who's flirting with who!?" He hissed back.

"I don't care! Your cue is coming on! Get it together!" Naruto and a few other students calmly walked on stage as if nothing had happened just 20 seconds ago. "I swear, that guy is something else! And troublesome too. Don't let him distract you, we need to fix Choji's jacket. It ripped."

Hinata gave a small nod, following Shikamaru's lead.

(^o^)

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm proud of you, Naruto." Neji smirked. The scene where Romeo kills Tybalt had just ended and a few students were setting up the stage for the next scene. Naruto and Sasuke had successfully acted out the combat scene without killing each other in front of the audience.

Naruto frowned. "It took all of my strength not to kill him. I'm beat." Then he collapsed onto the floor and gave a long sigh.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips, raising her brow at her friend's typically weird behavior. "Get up Naruto. Other people need to pass by you."

Still, the blond laid there, unwilling to move.

"Ah, you'll get the clothes all dirty…" Hinata spoke up, causing Naruto to quickly stand on his feet.

"Oh yeah, Hinata made these! I wanna keep them as clean as possible!" He grinned, dusting them off.

Neji gave them a jaded look while Tenten gave a small giggle. "She's got him wrapped around her finger and she doesn't even know it."

The play went on, and before they knew it, they were at the climax of the play; where Romeo and Juliet both die. Hinata had to say, Sasuke was doing a good job of not being sarcastic throughout the entire play, and Ino did a wonderful job of being… well, as dramatic as usual.

As director, Shino decided to cut out the kiss from the play completely, seeing as though Sasuke didn't want to kiss Ino and the only person Ino wanted to kiss was Sai. The two were quite pleased with the changes and were able to press on. Hinata watched as Sasuke drank the imaginary poison from a small bottle before falling to the ground as his admirers cried his name out.

Honestly, didn't they know the story of Romeo and Juliet? He was going to die in the end. Because of their screaming, Ino had to wait for it to die down before she could sit up and recite her lines. Naruto was right, those girls were kind of annoying.

After Ino stabbed herself, the narrator went on stage to speak once more before the lights on stage cut off and the curtains closed. Cheering could be heard from outside of the curtains and class 3-2 was finally able to relax.

They retreated back to their classroom where everyone could get a drink of water take off their costumes and take a breather. As soon as Hinata sat in one of the chairs, she laid her head on the desk and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Ino, who was finally out of her dress smiled down at the sleeping Hyuga. "Aww, look at her. She's all worn out for today."

Sakura gave a small laugh. "Well, she did work really hard this week – through studying and school work and making costumes for us… She must be exhausted."

"Should we wake her up? Neji'll be coming for her soon to take her home." Ino asked, but Sakura shook her head.

"Let her sleep. She deserves it."

**-x-**

Hinata breathed out, attempting to calm her nerves. She knew that this was inevitable and that's why she needed to get this over with now. The Hyuga paced outside of her father's study, trying to plan what exactly she was going to say to him as she clutched her sketchbook in her arms.

She didn't know how exactly she was going to word it, but she wanted to tell him about what she found out about herself at the culture festival. Neji said that he loved her, and that he wanted to talk to her about their fight, but she was so nervous. What if he didn't accept it? Or accept her?

No. She had to block out all those negative thoughts. A father who truly cared for his child always accept them, no matter what. Suddenly, the door to the study creaked open to reveal Hiashi. She and her father stared at each other. Both were at a loss for words before they both blurted out:

"I'm sorry!"

They then looked at each other in confusion. "Wait, why?" They asked in unison. "Well… ah! You first. No, you can go first!"

This was working out swimmingly. The two were silent before Hinata handed him her sketch book. "U-um… I wanted you to take a look at it…" She mumbled and Hiashi did so, absolutely astonished by his daughter's work. "I… I actually made costumes for the play –"

"I saw." Hiashi interjected. "They were beautiful on stage."

Hinata's mouth hung open in shock. "You went to the culture festival? But I thought… you had work…"

He nodded. "I did. And I was so sure that you didn't want me to attend. Neji told me the opposite of that. I wasn't sure if I could believe it, but he does spend more time with you than I do." Hinata bit her lip as she waited for her father to continue. "Hinata. I wanted you to know that night that I do care about you, so much that I wanted you to have the brightest future possible. I think I went about it the wrong way.

"You're able to juggle several things at once, with designing for the festival and doing school work; and you're always kind to those around you. Why, this boisterous woman with red hair even tackled me after the play was over to talk about how much you helped her and her son…" He let out a low chuckle.

Kushina spoke to her father huh? And of course she'd gush about her as if Hinata was her own child. "You really are a beautiful person inside and out, and you're becoming like your mother every day. I am so proud to call you my daughter."

Hinata wiped the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "Do you... do you really mean that Father?" Hiashi nodded and she couldn't help but throw her arms around him, throwing him off guard. He felt a bit awkward at first – he and Hinata didn't really hug. He reluctantly wrapped his arms around her, feeling a little more comfortable as time progressed.

When they pulled apart, Hinata told her father of her wishes to become a designer, since she had so much fun with designing for the play. Hiashi respected her wishes, and the two of them sat to have a serious conversation about what exactly she wanted to do in life.

Hinata felt that for once in her life, things were really starting to look up for her.

* * *

"S-so… You two still aren't talking…?" Hinata sighed. She and Sasuke were chatting with each other before homeroom started. When she brought up Naruto's name, all emotion seemed to fall from his face as he said, "don't." She was sure that they'd get over it by now, because they usually did, but now that she thought about it, the fight really affected Sasuke, who was angry about his home life and Naruto never came to talk to him about it.

Of course Naruto was hurt too, having a friend constantly catch an attitude with him and he had no idea why it was even happening, and on top of that, was the first to be hit in a physical fight. The both of them weren't able to put their pride down for two seconds to talk to each other and rekindle their friendship.

This was even more of a tragedy than Romeo and Juliet.

The Uchiha sighed. "Yes. We're not talking. Now can you drop it please?"

"But… You both are best friends, right?" Hinata gave her warmest smile. "Maybe if you two just sit down and talk, then –"

"I really don't want to hear this from someone who won't even make up with her own father."

Hinata gasped and Sasuke's eyes widened as he turned to face her, quickly regretting what came out of his mouth. "I –"

"For your information, I did make up with my father… Why would you say something like that?" She frowned and Sasuke groaned. He hadn't meant for that to come out of his mouth – the last thing he wanted to do was hurt the feelings of someone he confided in.

As lame of an excuse as it was, he just snapped. And he felt terrible for bringing up a subject like that. Although Hinata was bringing up Naruto, she never brought up his family around him unless he did so first, nor did she use his terrible family life against him.

He felt all kinds of horrible about it. "Listen, I didn't mean to –"

"Hinata!" Naruto cried, entering the classroom.

"This guy is really starting to piss me off…" Sasuke muttered under his breath as the exuberant blond made his way over to Hinata, wishing her a good morning. Why was it that every time he and Hinata would be talking about something important, Naruto decided to show up?

When Naruto reached her, he could tell that she wasn't her usual happy self. "Hinata, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, putting on the best smile she possibly could. "Nothing's wrong. Naruto-kun, you worry too much." Hinata could tell that he still wasn't buying it, with the skeptical look on his face and she grew even more worried when he looked at Sasuke and then back to her.

"Is he giving you shit?" Naruto asked, jabbing a thumb in the Uchiha's direction, much to his annoyance.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here! You can say that to my face." Sasuke scowled and Naruto narrowed his eyes, as he stared him down.

"Fine." He huffed, folding his arms. "Are you giving Hinata shit?"

"And if I am?"

Hinata frantically waved her arms about, trying to get the boys to stop. "No one's giving me any trouble! Please don't fight with each other!"

Naruto and Sasuke both reluctantly agreed and Naruto promised Hinata that he'd walk home with her today after school before returning to his seat. Now that that blond idiot was out of the way, he could finally talk to Hinata. "Like I was saying," he began, catching Hinata's attention, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up that situation."

Hinata sighed. "I forgive you." She whispered. Hinata was not the type to hold grudges, and she wasn't going to stay upset with him. Sure, he had hurt her feelings, but they were friends and friends forgive each other. If only she could get Naruto and Sasuke to see it that way.

**-x-**

"Seriously, did he say something to you? It's been bugging me since this morning." Naruto grumbled. He and Hinata were walking home together, just as he promised and he wouldn't let what happened between her and Sasuke go.

She didn't want to tell him exactly what Sasuke had said to her. If she did, Naruto would have surely gotten in Sasuke's face, and the two of them would have been in yet another fight. Besides, the situation was handled. He apologized and she forgave him.

Still, if she kept saying nothing was wrong, Naruto wouldn't give up and tell her to quit lying to him. "He was just annoyed with me and I felt a little sad over it; that's all." She mumbled and Naruto encouraged her to continue. "I asked him about you, and I wanted you to make up but Sasuke-kun didn't want to. He apologized for hurting my feelings though, so you don't have to worry about me."

The blond sighed. "No offence Hinata, but Sasuke's right. I don't really want to talk to him."

"But he's your friend isn't he?" Hinata asked, clenching her fists in front of her chest. "You never give up on your friends, Naruto-kun. Especially not one as special as Sasuke-kun."

As much as he hated to admit it sometimes, Sasuke was like a brother to him. Of course Naruto wanted to keep their friendship intact, but every time he thought of the fight they had, he'd get annoyed with him. Then Naruto would become even more irritated when he saw Sasuke around Hinata, but he couldn't tell her that.

"How do I fix it if I just get annoyed with him all the time?" Naruto frowned.

Hinata perked up at this opportunity to help them fix their friendship. "Well, whenever we've had a problem in our friendship, you always come to talk to me. I think that talking to Sasuke might work. He's still kind of embarrassed about what he said that day, and he revealed it because of you so maybe it's best that you talk to him about it."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. Sasuke basically told the entire school about his family matters. He did feel bad for the Uchiha, finally knowing what burden he was carrying. "Hinata, did you know about all that stuff Sasuke said back then?"

She gave a small nod. "Well, I only knew about being the heir to the company and about the bankruptcy… and I knew about his parents fighting. But I didn't know about the divorce until he said it. It must have been fairly recent since he was acting so cold last month."

So Hinata did know a lot more than she let on. Still, Naruto couldn't fault her for it. Leaking Sasuke's problems wouldn't have been the right thing to do, no matter how badly he and Sakura wanted to know what was wrong with their friend. "Thanks for keeping his secret safe all this time."

Hinata smiled. It was clear that Naruto still did consider Sasuke a friend and cared a great deal about him, no matter how much he tried to deny it. "I think that you should give Sasuke-kun some kind of present when you talk to him. Something that says 'I'm sorry'."

At this, Naruto's eye twitched. "I'm not saying sorry to that asshole."

Oh, so close. "Okay, maybe not 'I'm sorry'. How about 'let's make up'?"

"You make it sound like we're in a relationship." Naruto said dryly. "But I get what you mean. What kind of present though? I'm not buying him anything."

The dark haired teen hummed in thought momentarily. "Oh! You can make him something! You can cook his favorite meal or something!" She chirped.

He gave her a skeptical look. "I dunno if I wanna cook for him…" Naruto didn't even cook for himself – his mother always did it for him.

"Well, I can help you! Let's make him something right now!"

Naruto blinked. "N-now?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes. It'll be fun!"

(^o^)

She was wearing one of his mother's aprons and had just finished tying her hair into a ponytail. Just the sight of her in his kitchen made him grin uncontrollably. "What are you smiling at?" Hinata asked, feeling a bit self-conscious under Naruto's gaze.

He laughed before dismissing her question with a wave of his hand. "It's nothing. So, are you ready to get started?"

"Oh, yes. But you never told me what you wanted to make."

Naruto closed his eyes, thinking about what he could give Sasuke. He was sure that Sasuke didn't deserve one of Hinata's nice home cooked meals, so he sought to make something that the Uchiha didn't much care for. Then it hit him. "Let's make him a little cake."

"Cake?" She repeated. Hinata didn't think Sasuke would be one for cake, but Naruto did know Sasuke best. "Alright, what kind of cake? I think we should bake a chocolate cake."

The blond nodded. "Chocolate sounds good. My mom just went shopping so we should have everything."

Hinata smiled and the two of them rummaged in the kitchen to find everything that she called for; eggs, milk, sugar, butter… even cocoa powder. Once all of the ingredients were set on the table, Naruto was ready to get to work, but Hinata told him that he must always wash his hands before preparing a meal, to which he sheepishly scratched his head and apologized.

Now the two were hard at work; measuring flour in cups and whisking cake batter in a bowl. Hinata made sure to keep a close eye on Naruto, making sure that he purposely didn't put anything foul in the cake batter.

When Hinata felt his eyes on her as she whisked the batter, she slowly stopped. "Um… did you want to try?"

Naruto nodded his head with vigor and Hinata handed him the bowl, telling him to keep at it until the batter had a smooth consistency. She turned her back to make sure that the oven had been on the entire time and to check that Naruto had actually greased the circular pan they were going to be baking the cake in.

Once everything was in order, she turned to check on him again, only to see that he had been rapidly whisking the batter like a madman. Suddenly, the cake batter splashed up, and he turned his face away so that it would only hit his cheek. The damage wasn't too bad, but splotches of chocolate now decorated Naruto's face.

"Jeez Naruto-kun, you weren't supposed to do it like that…" she mumbled, trying to find a handkerchief to clean his face. The blonde pushed the side of his face closer to hers.

"Lick it off."

Hinata turned beet red. "Wh-what!?"

"You have to taste the cake batter to see if it's good enough, right? Lick it off~!" His voice was teasing, and she knew he meant no harm by it, but she was sure that she was going to pass out. Hinata placed her palm on the side of his head and gently pushed him away from her, just like she did back in June.

"No!" She protested.

"Hinataaaa~!" Naruto whined. "If you don't, it'll dry!"

"Th-that's why you use a handkerchief!"

When she was able to find the small piece of cloth in her pocket, Hinata wiped the side of Naruto's face with it, much to his dismay. After pouring the batter into the pan and setting it into the oven, Hinata told Naruto that they'd be moving on to making the frosting.

She made him promise that he wouldn't get anything else on his face again. Still, this didn't stop him from purposely getting the warm frosting on Hinata's cheek and demanding to lick it off. When he held her in his arms and his tongue was ever so close to her flushing face, Kushina walked in.

He was sent to his room after a few punches to the head by his mother.

* * *

"Ehehehe… What's up?" Naruto grinned sheepishly, holding the packaged chocolate cake in his hands. Sasuke's onyx eyes gave the dullest expression they could possibly give before he wordlessly began to close the door, but not before the blond shoved his foot in the doorway.

The Uchiha grimaced. "I'm not afraid to break your foot. Move it or you'll be forced to limp to the hospital."

Naruto attempted to push himself in, and he was halfway inside of the house, hardly able to breathe because of the door almost crushing him. "Just hear me out!" He cried in a strained voice. "I even bought food with me! Just let me in!"

Sighing, Sasuke opened the door, causing Naruto to tumble inside. He wasn't going to get rid of the blond idiot anytime soon. When Naruto had his heart set on something, he wouldn't quit until he got it done. Tenacious bastard. "Well, what is it? You've got twenty seconds."

The blond gasped. "Twenty seconds isn't enough!"

"Fifteen."

"Stop it, you asshole!" Naruto cried. "You know why I'm here and you know that it won't take twenty seconds to talk about it!"

Sasuke folded his arms before leaning against the door, closing it shut. "Fine. We can't talk about it here though. Let's go upstairs." Naruto nodded, hurriedly taking off his shoes and following Sasuke up the stairs to his bedroom.

Once they reached his room, the two sat down on cushions at a small wooden table, and Naruto slid the cake over to him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question. "What's this?"

Naruto grinned. "It's chocolate cake!" Sasuke slid the cake back across the table and frowned.

"You know I hate sweets. Why would you spend your money on that?"

"I didn't spend money on it. I made it."

The Uchiha's face twisted in disgust. "All the more reason not to eat it."

The blond scowled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!? It's actually really good. Hinata even helped me make it."

_By help you make it you mean she did all the work while you stood there picking your nose…_ Sasuke thought. He then grabbed the box with the cake in it, much to Naruto's surprise. "What're you doing?"

"You think you're so slick. Making Hinata bake me a cake knowing fully well I don't like sweets so you can have it all to yourself. Well, now you can't have it either." He found a plastic fork in the box as well, and dug in, cringing at the first bite he took. It was way too sweet for his liking but he continued to eat it.

"Are you seriously that petty that'd you'd eat something you hate just so I wouldn't have any!?" Sasuke answered "yes" in between bites causing Naruto to cry out in frustration. After deciding that he could stomach no more of the cake, Sasuke covered it again, pushing it off to the side of the table.

"So, we're sitting here, and I'm pretty sure you didn't come all the way over here to give me some cake. What did you need to tell me?"

Naruto folded his arms and sighed. He promised Hinata that he'd talk to Sasuke… Hell, he promised _himself_ that he'd talk to Sasuke, but it was so difficult to do so. Before Hinata left his house the other day, she said he'd have to put his pride aside if he ever wanted to salvage their friendship.

He didn't think he was being prideful, but when he had finally gotten some time alone, he realized that he was willing to throw their friendship away simply because he felt that he shouldn't have been the first one to start the conversation. If that wasn't being prideful, Naruto didn't know what was.

"…I'm sorry." He muttered, taking Sasuke completely off guard. "You've been having a shitty life, and I wasn't respectful of your space at all."

"I should… also be giving you an apology. As much as I hate to admit it, you were right; about me taking stuff out on you guys. I was so angry…"

Naruto noticed the hitch in his friend's voice. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

Sasuke sighed. "Where do I even begin?"

"From when you left after our first year." Naruto told him, and Sasuke nodded.

He was silent at first, getting his thoughts together before actually speaking. "My dad found a great opportunity for his business in a different city, so he made us move. My mom didn't want to, being that she was comfortable here but my dad insisted. While we were there, they constantly got into arguments about money; how much we were spending, how much we were investing… The arguments got so heated and they always on until about one in the morning or so.

"Dad didn't really pay much attention to me until he and Itachi had this huge fight about taking over the business, since he graduated. Apparently, he didn't want to, and sought out to do something else so Dad basically disowned him, and started banking on me to take over someday. In my entire second year of school, I had to learn about stocks, banking… all of that stuff that my dad started teaching Itachi about at such a young age, all because he wasn't useful anymore.

"Sometime in December of last year was when we almost lost everything. My dad, as well as many other businessmen and stockbrokers got swindled. We almost filed for bankruptcy, and then that's when the arguments between my mom and dad increased. They wouldn't even go out of their way to try and hide it anymore. A month later, Dad said he got another business opportunity, and Mom and I were skeptical of it of course, but he was desperate.

"I guess the only reason I'm back here is because of Hinata's dad. He and my dad are partnered with each other, and in March, the money started flowing in again. We moved back here because of them and they let me start school here again in April. My parents stopped talking to each other for a while, but when Dad found a letter in the mail from Itachi to my mom, last month, all hell broke loose. When we fought that day, I was just bitter because I had just found out about the divorce from my mom. It's not complete yet, but it will be soon."

Naruto was at a loss for words. So much had happened to Sasuke in just a year and he went on pretending everything was okay as best as he could. "Oh! What happened with Itachi?" Naruto asked. "You guys were really close."

Sasuke let out a small "hmph" and rested his elbow in the table, using his hand to prop up his face. "Apparently, he was having so much fun at college that he wanted to peruse a career in music with his friends. They've been planning it for a while, but it never came to my dad's attention until after Itachi graduated."

"So… He started a band?" Sasuke nodded. "Are they at least good?"

The Uchiha got up and opened his desk drawer, pulling out a CD case and tossing it to his blond friend. "You tell me." He said, rejoining Naruto at the table. The blond studied the CD cover before letting out a sharp gasp.

"I know this band!" Sasuke's brow furrowed as he watched Naruto pull off his black hoodie, revealing a black t-shirt with a single red cloud on it.

Sasuke was bewildered. "Where did you get that t-shirt?"

"Kiba gave it to me last Christmas! He said they were an awesome band and that I should check them out! They're really amazing – can I have this CD? Ah! Itachi even signed it and everything! I didn't know he was in it! Why didn't you tell me?"

As Naruto practically gushed about the band, Sasuke snatched the CD case out of his hands. "No! He gave it to me as a birthday present. I had to make sure my dad didn't see it, otherwise he would have tossed it away."

He gave a small sigh. "I used to be angry with Itachi for just leaving to create his own future while mine was forced on me. I was actually going to throw it out myself, but then I got insight on how he felt through being friends with Hinata."

Naruto was perplexed. "How? Hinata and Itachi are nothing alike."

"They're more alike than you think. She's kind of in his position… being the oldest so therefore being able to inherit the business despite not wanting to. She and I talked a lot, and she told me about wanting to be able to do what made her happy in life without placing the burden of being a successor on her sister. Then she told me that Itachi probably did what he did because he knew I was strong enough to decide for myself what I wanted to do in life."

"So that's why you two were always off together a lot…" Naruto thought aloud.

"Yeah, and you always kept interrupting. No one else knew what it was like to have that kind of pressure pushed on you except for her. She was the only person I could actually talk to about it who would spare me the pity. I guess you and your jealousy issues couldn't handle that."

Naruto gasped as a small smirk graced Sasuke's lips – the first genuine smirk since September. "Jealousy issues!? As if!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. You really didn't think I didn't catch you glaring at me when I hung out with her?"

"It wasn't like that! I mean… It was, kind of, but it wasn't the way that you think it was!" Naruto cried.

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then enlighten me. What was it like then?"

Naruto scratched the side of his cheek, a light blush growing on his cheeks. "I… wouldn't call them issues, but I was always just a little envious of you, since we were kids. When you weren't hanging around me, you were with Itachi, and I didn't have a brother to really hang out with. I would have liked one since my parents were always on trips, leaving me behind with Ero-sennin."

"I thought you liked hanging out with him." Sasuke cut in.

"I do, but it's different. He's years older than me so it wasn't the same as hanging out with you and Itachi." Naruto explained. "I was also pretty envious of you when we played sports cuz you were always so much better than me. Then we got to middle school and you constantly had Sakura's attention… You still have her attention even now. And now with Hinata –"

"You like Hinata a lot, don't you?"

Naruto frowned. "You could at least let me finish speaking, you jerk."

"What more do I need to hear about how much you envy our time together?" Sasuke inquired. "I guess it's too bad though."

The blond's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about this time?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I mean, seeing as though you like her so much, I thought I should let you know about the plans our fathers have for us. We're getting married after we graduate." Sasuke's expression was as serious as ever and Naruto's mouth hung open.

"Ino was telling the truth!?" He cried, and then a rare occurrence happened; Sasuke laughed.

"Ino said the same thing to you? I really need to give her credit where credit's due."

Naruto huffed. "You guys are terrible human beings!"

Sasuke composed himself, and donned his serious expression once again. "I am being serious though when I say you need to get over those feelings." Naruto didn't like Sasuke's tone at all, but motioned for him to continue. His face fell at his friend's next words.

"Hinata's going to school in America."

* * *

Oh no! You're princess is going to school in another country, Naruto! You gotta make a decision pronto!

Well, this was fun to write. I thoroughly enjoyed it – I hope you enjoyed reading it. Look out for chapter 13: December!

See you in the next one!


	13. December

Hey guys! I'm back with chapter 13!

I also have an announcement! Just recently Kae (unfitpuzzle) and I have started a one-shot NaruHina series called Working Class which were inspired by Job AU prompts on tumblr. I'm shamelessly self-promoting here, I know, but check it out on Kae's FF profile if you have time. Also, check out Kae's other work too, she's phenomenal! ;)

Alright, on with the story!

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**December: **I Really Like You... A Lot

* * *

"It's so cold today…" Hinata mumbled underneath her scarf. The harsh winter winds pierced through her coat and nipped at her legs, causing her body to shiver in protest. She wanted to go home as soon as possible to avoid staying in the cold so long, but Sakura had asked if she wanted to walk home together.

Of course Hinata had said yes, but this wasn't because she was afraid to deny Haruno. She was actually delighted that her pink haired friend wanted to spend time together – she could never pass up something like that, even if she was cold.

However, Sakura didn't look like she was having a good time at all. She seemed upset. Maybe she needed a friend to talk to? Hinata would happily provide for her, if that was the case. "Um, Sakura-chan?" She called out but it didn't look like she was listening.

The dark haired teen placed a glove-clad hand on her shoulder, causing Sakura to break out of her thoughts. "Are you alright, Sakura-chan? You seem sad."

Sakura shook her head, not even uttering a word and the two continued their walk home. Hinata thought it would be wise not to press her any further. The silence seemed to drag on forever until Hinata felt a tug on the sleeve of her coat.

"I… I want to talk to you about something," Sakura said, "something really important."

Hinata turned to look at her and from the serious look in her eye, the Hyuga knew that this was no laughing matter. "Um, I think there's a café nearby. If you'd like, we can chat there." Sakura gave a small nod.

She remembered visiting this particular café once when Kiba wouldn't stop whining that he was hungry after basketball practice. Shino pointed out the café and Kiba folded his arms, mumbling something about how he needed a real meal. Hinata explained that beggars shouldn't be choosers, so they sat down at a table and Hinata ordered a cinnamon roll.

That cinnamon roll was the best she had ever tasted in a long time. Maybe she didn't suggest the café only to get out of the cold. She liked to treat herself once every now and then. When the girls arrived at the café, they sat down and picked up their menus. Hinata saw Sakura cringe upon looking at it. As her eyes scanned down the menu, Sakura looked defeated.

It was true, this place was a little pricey, but it was nothing Hinata couldn't handle; being the daughter of a wealthy businessman and all. "You know, this is my treat." Hinata spoke, causing Sakura to look up in surprise. "Something is troubling you, so at least let me help by treating you for today."

The pink haired teen gave a small smile, the first one Hinata had seen all day today. "You really don't have to Hinata. Besides, I don't want to spoil my dinner by –" A small rumbling sound erupted from Sakura's stomach, cutting her off. Hinata giggled and Sakura smiled sheepishly. "I guess a small snack wouldn't hurt, would it?"

"That's the spirit." Hinata smiled. When she returned her gaze to the menu, Sakura just couldn't help but watch her in awe. She was always so bright and happy; kind too. What was her secret? She bit down on her lip before the words seemed to sputter out of her mouth.

"You really like Naruto, don't you?"

Hinata looked up from the menu, taken aback by Sakura's sudden question. Oh no, how did she find out? Was she mad at her for having feelings for Naruto? So many terrible thoughts swam around in her head from Sakura ending their friendship to her saying that they were already a couple. She wanted to deny it but her brain only allowed her to ask, "H-how did you know?"

Sakura, who felt embarrassed by her sudden outburst, looked down at the table. "Oh, uh… Karin told me."

But why? Why would Karin do that? Hinata told her that she didn't need to do anything, and now that just went and complicated things between her and Sakura. Hinata was about to speak but was interrupted by their waitress.

"Hello ladies, what will we be having today?" She greeted with the brightest smile on her face. The girls both scanned over their menus once more before looking up at her.

"I'll have dango with red bean paste and some green tea." Sakura said, attempting to pick the cheapest thing on the menu. She didn't want to inconvenience Hinata, even if she was loaded. It felt wrong just ordering without looking at the prices, especially if her friend was the one paying for it.

The waitress jotted her order down and turned towards Hinata. "And for you, miss?"

"Oh, may I please have a cinnamon roll with icing and a milk tea?"

She hummed as she took Hinata's order, then gave a small bow before telling the girls their order would be out soon and left. Hinata and Sakura turned to look at each other before looking elsewhere, feeling slightly awkward about their conversation before the waitress interrupted.

"I don't know if you're upset or anything… But I'm glad that Karin told me what she did." Sakura said, breaking the silence. Hinata returned her attention to the pink haired girl in front of her once more with confusion written all over her face. "I actually feel like such an idiot."

Hinata frowned. "Why would you say that about yourself?"

"Because it's true. For a while now, I've been rather envious of you and Ino. She's super popular, makes friends quickly, and she got the boy she wanted. Everything's worked out perfectly for her. Then there's you. You're so kind to everyone and Naruto and Sasuke really took a liking to you. I felt like I was losing my friends.

"But I should be thanking you! Sasuke told me everything when I went to hand him the notes he missed out on. He told me about all of his family issues and how you were the only person he could talk to about that kind of stuff. Thank you so much for being such a good friend to him. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he really needed it."

The dark haired teen shook her head. "You don't need to thank me, Sakura-chan. Friends always help each other out, right?"

"Here are your orders." Their waitress cut in, placing their food and beverages down on the table. "Enjoy."

Hinata took a bite out of the warm cinnamon roll. It tasted just a wonderful as last time. She brought her tea cup to her lips, taking a sip of her milk tea before looking as Sakura. "Um, you don't still feel that way about me, do you? There's nothing enviable about me."

Sakura, who had a mouth full dango, drank some tea to wash it down before speaking. "Of course there's something enviable about you – and I still do envy you; just not for the same reasons. You were so quiet back in middle school, and you never spoke to anyone besides Kiba and Shino. Then, during our second year, you started to really make more friends and you looked so much happier. I'm curious, why did you do that?"

"I did it for me." Hinata answered quickly. A small blush crept onto her cheeks as she was a little embarrassed by her outburst. "I… I wanted to make new friends and I wanted to be a different person. I wanted to be happy so I changed myself for me."

Sakura smiled. "That's why I envy you. The only times I only wanted to change myself, it was only to get Sasuke to notice me. You did it because you truly wanted to, and I think that's just one of the many reasons why Naruto likes you." Hinata shook her head, but Sakura continued. "Oh please, Hinata. Everyone can see how into you he is."

She took another sip of her green tea and sighed. "I never thought I'd say this in a million years, but I decided to follow in your footsteps because of Karin's words. I didn't want to be the girl who always stumbled after boys, so I promised myself that instead of following one, I'd focus on myself. I want to be able to look at myself and say that there is more to me than just the love I have for another person. You probably don't know this, but I actually confessed to Sasuke at the end of our first year."

Sakura was right. Hinata did not know this, and was a tad bit surprised. "Of course I was sad when I found out that he didn't come back to school our second year so I'd never get my answer, but surprisingly enough, he apologized about it back in October. And he decided to give me his answer. I got rejected." She laughed. It wasn't bitter sounding at all; just a low, genuine laugh.

It made sense that Sasuke wouldn't return the feelings. He probably wanted nothing to do with relationships after the very recent divorce with his parents. There was also his plans to go to school in America that would get in the way. "But are you okay with that?" Hinata asked.

"Yes." She answered, fairly sure of herself. "I mean, when he first told me he wanted to respond to my confession, I was scared. I had already chosen write off boys for now, and if he had said yes, I'd never be able to reject him; meaning that I'd never be able to focus on myself. But I was so scared that he'd say no because I didn't want to get hurt. I just wanted him to pretend like it never happened.

"I'm glad he gave me an answer, and I'm glad I was rejected. It gives me time and space to really figure myself out and focus on my studies. Attempting to become a doctor takes a lot of studying, you know. But that doesn't mean I'll give up on him." Sakura grinned cheekily and Hinata smiled.

"I'm proud of you, Sakura-chan." Slowly, the grin faded away; a look of surprise taking its place. "You're ready to find yourself too. Sakura-chan, it's the best feeling in the world when you're able to say 'I know who I am and I love myself' and from the bottom of my heart, I really hope you are able to say that someday. I'll be rooting for you always, so do your best."

"Hinata…" Sakura whispered in awe before grabbing hold of Hinata's hands from across the table, startling the Hyuga. A rosy color tinted Sakura's cheeks, and her eyes were glossed from the tears welling up in her eye. "Thank you so much for believing in me! It really means a lot to me. I'll keep you posted on everything that's going on, I promise."

She let out a small giggle. "Please do. Are you going to inform Karin about it too?"

Sakura let go of Hinata's hands to place them on her hips and let out a scoff. "O-oh please. That idiot? No way!" Although Sakura was frowning, Hinata couldn't help but notice the noticeably larger blush on her face. "She's so annoying – way worse than Ino-pig! Do you know what she did today?"

It seemed that recently, Karin stopped flirting with Sasuke in their classroom since Sakura didn't entertain it. These days, the redhead would rather sit on top of Sakura's desk and tease her, much to Sakura's annoyance.

"You're blushing." Hinata pointed out, much to Sakura's displeasure.

"Because talking about her makes me angry!" She cried. Her pink haired friend went on about how bothersome Karin was and Hinata could only giggle. Hopefully, Sakura would one day see past Karin's harsh exterior and realize that Karin was only trying to be her friend… in her own weird way.

* * *

"I don't know about this, Hinata…" Sakura mumbled. The two of them were currently standing in front of classroom 3-3 as Hinata tried to get her pink haired friend to go inside. She thought it would be a wonderful idea for Sakura and Karin to talk, and for Sakura to give her gratitude for what Karin helped her to realize, even if she didn't know it. "Maybe it's best if we just leave it alone, yeah?"

Sakura was quite troubled all of this, and a little embarrassed. Karin was known for her sharp tongue and haughtiness. She didn't want to tell her something she'd immediately regret. As much as she did appreciate the redhead's advice, it didn't mean that they were buddies, or even acquaintances. They were just two people who attended the same school together.

But apparently, Hinata thought otherwise. The dark haired teen opened the back door of the classroom, motioning for Karin to come out into the hallway. "Good morning Karin." She greeted with one of her bright smiles.

Karin grinned. "Morning! Why's Haruno hiding behind you?" She asked nonchalantly, pointing at the array of pink hair she could see behind Hinata. Sakura flinched and slowly poked her head out from behind Hinata, making the most disgusted of faces.

The Hyuga sidestepped, making Sakura visible to the redhead in front of them. "Sakura-chan has something she wants to say to you. I think I should leave you two alone for now. I'll see you in class, Sakura-chan! Bye Karin!" Hinata said, waving as she walked back to their classroom.

_Don't leave me alone with her…_ Sakura whined internally. When she turned to face Karin, her arms were folded and her glasses had a glare on them. She wore a smirk on her face that Sakura wanted to erase from existence. "So, what did you wanna tell me? Is it a confession or something?"

"As if you weirdo!" Sakura cried, balling up her fists. It was a terrible idea to come here and try to talk to this psycho! She didn't know why she let Hinata talk her into this mess in the first place. There was no way in hell that they'd be able to have a normal conversation.

Karin tilted her head to the side and scratched it, giving Sakura a strange look. "Keep your panties on, I was only kidding. Why do you get so defensive all the time?" Sakura's shoulders slumped and she was able to calm down slightly. "So, what were you going to tell me now?"

Then her whole body tensed up again, and she blushed. "I er… I just wanted to say… thanks. You know, for that whole advice thing." Her eyebrows knitted together in annoyance and she had a small frown of her face. Saying thank you to Karin of all people was one of the hardest things she ever had to do, and she was patiently waiting for some stupid snarky comment to come out of her mouth.

The redheaded teen stared at Sakura for a moment before giving a small shrug. "Eh, it was nothing I guess."

Sakura looked at her in surprise. That was all she had to say? She had expected Karin to mock her or tease her, not wave it off as if it were no big deal. In all actuality, it _was_ a big deal! "What? What do you mean 'it was nothing'?"

Karin blinked. "Exactly what I said." Upon seeing Sakura's confused expression, Karin sighed. "Listen. I just didn't want to see Hinata get hurt by someone she considered a friend. She thinks of you so highly you know. And I definitely couldn't watch you act all pathetic anymore – that's not you. It was so annoying walking into the classroom and seeing you sit there like you were contemplating life when you were only thinking about boys. And don't get me wrong, boys are great to think about, but they don't deserve _that_ much of your time."

"How did you know that's what I was thinking about?"

The redhead rolled her eyes. "I can sense these things. I don't always have Sasuke-kun on the brain, you know. I also noticed that you aren't bothered when I come in to talk to Sasuke-kun. I'm assuming you picked Naruto then?"

Sakura shook her head. "Actually, that's why I'm here saying thank you. I didn't pick any of them; I picked myself. Like you said, I was letting boy troubles eat me up and that was a terrible thing to do. I didn't want to be like that anymore, so I'm focusing on myself and my future. Even if you didn't mean for it to turn out that way, you really helped me come to that conclusion – so thanks."

It was then that Karin gave a boisterous laugh, causing Sakura's face to flush. She raised her fist to knock that stupid grin off of her face, but Karin raised her hand to stop Sakura in her tracks. "I'm not laughing at you, calm down!" She chuckled. "I'm laughing at myself. To think that I'd be the cause of someone wanting to better themselves; that's a really good feeling, you know. It makes me laugh with joy!"

Her laughter finally died down and she slid her glasses back up on her face. "If that's what you're thanking me for, then you're welcome. Actually, thank you for sharing that with me. Hearing that from someone really makes me feel good."

Sakura couldn't believe she was genuinely smiling at this girl – the same one that she declared insane numerous times. Karin may have been annoying on many occasions, but she was only human just like everyone else. She had her faults and her good points. "Just to let you know," Sakura started, "I'm not giving up on Sasuke. And this whole thing doesn't make us friends either."

The redhead couldn't stop herself from snorting. "Oh please _Sakura_. You and me already shared a moment together. I think that just about makes us friends. See you around, _buddy_." Karin laughed, waving her hand as she walked back into the classroom.

Sakura gave a deep sigh. "Great. That'll give her more of an excuse to bug me whenever she gets the chance. What did I get myself into?"

**-x-**

It was lunch time, and Ino sat on Sasuke's desk, kicking her feet as she chatted with Hinata about one of her favorite singers who did a performance last night. "Did you see her on television last night?" Ino cried, unable to hold back the grin on her face.

Hinata nodded vigorously. "I did, I did! Takeuchi-san is so amazing! Her voice is absolutely wonderful – she's my favorite!"

"Ugh, if I could get tickets to her concerts, I totally would. She even sung my favorite song! And for a 40 something year old woman, she looks great! Did you see her –?"

Suddenly, the two girls could hear a loud clearing of a voice. "It's nice that you two are having such a wonderful conversation, but how about you have it _off_ of my desk. "Sasuke said dryly. Ino huffed in annoyance and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that look. If anyone should be annoyed, it's me. Now get off."

Admitting defeat, Ino slid off of his desk. "We'll talk later, Hinata." She said before turning to Sasuke to stick her tongue out.

"Yeah, keep walking." He called out to her as she made her way to the front door of the classroom, possibly out to have lunch with some other friends in a different class. She never turned around, and her only response was to flip him the bird with the flick of her wrist. Ino had to do everything in style, Hinata supposed.

Pleased with their talk, Sasuke promptly sat down at his desk, a small smirk gracing his lips. If she had to guess, Hinata would say that Sasuke's favorite thing to do was piss his friends off. "Do you always have to be so mean?" Hinata asked.

He shrugged. "It's the only thing that keeps me sane. And it amuses me."

"I see." Hinata mumbled.

"Yo, Sasuke!" Naruto called, entering from the front of the classroom.

The Uchiha turned to Hinata for a moment, and mumbled "take Naruto for example" before turning to look at his best friend who had just reached his desk. "Your fly is open." Sasuke said nonchalantly as he watched the blond's eyes dart quickly to Hinata before quickly turning around.

Sasuke could see the tips of Naruto's ears redden and smirked. "S-Sasuke, you asshole! My fly wasn't down!"

"Yeah, I know. It's called a joke. Maybe you should learn to take one."

Annoyed by his so called friend's _joke_, Naruto slammed his hands down on the desk, inching closer to his face. "You're really starting to piss me off!"

"And your breath really stinks." He remarked, his smirk growing wider as Naruto scrambled to back away from him, covering his mouth in the process.

"L-liar! I brushed my teeth before I left the house this morning!" He cried, his voice muffled underneath his hand.

"Yeah, I was lying."

"Why you –!"

As Naruto yelled about Sasuke being an asshole among several other profanities, Sasuke only turned to Hinata giving a look that she could only read as "this amuses me."

Hinata didn't understand their relationship. Before, she said that she didn't think she wanted to understand it. Now she was positive that she really didn't want to understand how their friendship worked. "I was going to invite you to have lunch in class 3-1 with some of the team, but since you're being even more of an ass than usual, I guess not." Naruto frowned.

Sasuke sighed. "Why would I want to do that? There's nothing enjoyable about sitting around a bunch of loudmouths who argue all day." Did Sasuke not know that his words described their entire circle of friends? Or maybe he did know that, and loved to make himself miserable. "Hinata and I are having lunch together. Would you rather eat with us instead?"

Was it just Hinata, or did Naruto look somewhat conflicted? "Uh… No thanks. I already promised the guys I'd eat with them. I'll catch you both later!" Hinata's eyes never left him until he was outside of the classroom.

"So the tables have turned." Hinata mumbled, prompting Sasuke to raise his eyebrow in question. "Ever since sometime late last month, I feel like Naruto-kun has been distancing himself from me… And he's never done that before."

Sasuke cringed slightly. That was around the same time Sasuke told Naruto that Hinata was leaving the country after graduation. Was he really that upset about it that he was going out of his way to avoid her? "Don't worry about it." He spoke suddenly, causing Hinata to look his way. "I'll talk to him about it."

"Are you sure, Sasuke-kun?" Hinata frowned. "I don't want to be a bother or anything, and I'm sure he's just being flighty as usual. There's no need to –"

"He doesn't dislike you, if that's what you think this is about." Hinata gasped lightly, a bit shocked that Sasuke read exactly what was on her mind. Why was it that everyone was able to read her so easily nowadays? Hinata supposed it was because she had opened up to more people instead of hiding herself away. "Trust me. I'll go talk to him, and that's it. Don't worry about it."

Hinata was skeptical. "But…"

"What did I just say?" He questioned.

"Right, sorry. I won't question it anymore." Sasuke nodded and took out his lunchbox. Although he didn't quite like to tangle himself in other people's love lives, he did feel partially responsible for Naruto avoiding Hinata. Sasuke also felt guilty and wanted to correct the situation.

With any luck, Naruto would be back to his old annoying self around her instead of being passive and avoiding too much conversation with her.

* * *

"When I said 'you need to get over those feelings' I didn't mean for you to start ignoring Hinata." Sasuke frowned. He sat at the kotatsu, watching Naruto fail horribly at some video game he didn't care to recall the name of. Just then, the familiar 8-bit 'game over' song began to play as the blond quickly turned to face his best friend.

"You made me lose." He pouted.

Sasuke's steely gaze never faltered. "You did that on your own. Now stop being ridiculous and talk to her."

Naruto placed the controller down and sighed. "I'm not avoiding her."

"I beg to differ." Sasuke countered.

The blond rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'm not actively avoiding her. After what you told me, I had to think about a few things… A lot of things." Sasuke stayed silent, waiting for his friend to continue. "I really do like her… a lot. And I thought that I'd be able to see her a lot even after graduation, cuz I just assumed she'd be commuting to school since her dad and Neji like to keep a close eye on her. But now that I know she's leaving… do I tell her how I feel? Do I just let her go without a word?"

Sasuke lightly drummed his fingers on the table. "Break is coming up soon. After that, we have three more months until we graduate. Is that okay with you? Holding a relationship for such a short amount of time? And that's just me being optimistic and assuming she says yes to you."

"Maybe she'd stay… Do you think?" Naruto asked hopefully. The look on Sasuke's face made it painstakingly clear that it wouldn't be happening.

"No, I don't think she'd stay. Hinata's not stupid." He said simply.

Naruto's face twisted in shock before throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. "Why don't you just rip out my heart and stomp all over it Sasuke, God!"

"I'd rather do that than lie to you. Going to school in the states is a huge opportunity. Do you really think she'd drop all of that for a relationship?" Sasuke asked. As much as Naruto hated to admit it, Sasuke was right. Hinata always took her school work very seriously and she told him about her passion to design clothes after the class play.

Why would she throw all of that away for someone like him? "So you're saying I shouldn't tell her how I feel…"

Sasuke shrugged. "I didn't say anything about what I think you should tell her. I'm telling you that she's hurt because you're ignoring her and she's starting to think you don't like her."

A gasp made its way out of Naruto's mouth. "But the opposite of that is true! I really do like her!"

"And what good will come out of telling me that?" After a moment of silence, Sasuke stood up. "The snow is starting to pick up. I need to go home now." Naruto watched as Sasuke slipped on his shoes and buttoned up his coat. "And I expect that you'll be talking to her normally after break is over, because if I hear her sighing over you one more time, I'll make sure to break your nose." And with that, Sasuke let himself out.

Naruto gave a long sigh as he trudged over to the sofa. He flopped down on it and let out a muffled groan. Naruto thought he was absolutely done with relationships and girls for a long time, but the thought of Hinata going to another country without knowing how he felt made him feel absolutely awful.

Actually, the fact that she was leaving made him feel awful. He should have been happy for her, but there was a part of him that wanted to be selfish – to beg her not to go. Just when he thought he knew everything he needed to know about her too – Sasuke drops a bomb on him and he's even more clueless about her; about what she wants in life, the things she works so hard for as well as why she works so hard.

He laid on the couch face first for another 20 minutes and heard the creaking of the front door. "We're back!" Kushina called into a house she presumed to be empty since she had gotten no response. When she and her husband walked into the living room, they spotted their only child sprawled on the sofa. "Are you sleeping or are you ignoring us?" She asked.

Her son let out a muffled "welcome back" and Kushina and Minato shared similar looks before sitting on either side of the couch next to their son. "Having a bad day sweetie?" Kushina asked, running her hand through her son's messy head of hair. He nodded. "Well, get up and tell us what's wrong."

The blond teen sat up just as his mother had told him. "Guys, what do you do when someone you really care about is leaving you behind?"

Kushina hummed in thought. "Well, when your dad leaves on business trips, I make him buy me souvenirs. And I make sure to call him every day."

"More than twice a day." Minato chimed in.

His wife frowned. "You got a problem with that?"

"Of course not dear," he grinned, "I always smile every time I hear your voice."

Kushina gave a small giggle. "Oh you~!"

"Guys I'm serious… She's leaving soon and –"

"She?" Minato questioned. "This wouldn't happen to do with that young lady who stopped by to see you every day when you were suspended from school, would it?"

Kushina gasped. "You mean Hinata-chan? You love Hinata-chan? Ah! I knew it! I could see it in your eyes when I saw the both of you together way back over the summer, y'know!" As his mother squealed and giggled, the blush on Naruto's face began to spread to the tips of his ears.

"N-no one said anything about loving her!" He cried.

"Your face is saying everything for you." His father replied coolly. When Naruto covered his face, his parents shared huge grins before hi-fiving each other.

Finally able to calm himself down, Naruto removed his hands from his face. "I don't love her, but… I really do like her. Like, a lot…" He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Kushina wrapped an arm around her son in an attempt to comfort him. Minato did the same.

"And she's leaving you behind you say?" The redheaded woman asked. "Where is she going?"

Naruto sighed. "She's going to school in America. I'm really proud of her for that; she's going to be awesome out there. But a part of me really wants her to stay, so I can tell her how I feel about her." He took a small pause in an attempt to get his words together. "I feel like an idiot, waiting for so long. She's such a great person; always kind and encouraging, smart, she's really pretty and it's fun to tease her."

"I know. I caught you trying to lick that poor girl's face." Kushina muttered indignantly, causing Naruto's face to flush yet again. He would have gotten away with it too, if only he had been quicker.

"I don't think you're an idiot, son." Minato spoke up and Naruto turned to look at him. "Waiting doesn't make you a fool. If you felt that you weren't truly ready to make it official, then you weren't. I'm sure Hinata will understand. She seems to care about you just as much as you care about her."

Kushina nodded. "She even tried super hard to get you and Sasuke-kun to make up. And you two baked a cake together. A couple that bakes together, stays together, y'know. I think you should tell Hinata-chan how you feel! I'm positive she'll accept your love with open arms!"

"You really think so?" Naruto asked.

"Mhmm, I do. You've got that Uzumaki charm! No one is immune to it! How do ya think I scored such an awesome man like your dad here?" His mother grinned, lightly jabbing he son in the side with her elbow.

Minato gave a light chuckle. "If anyone scored, it would be me. I think I was the one who caught the perfect catch."

"Oh you~!" Kushina giggled, causing Naruto to groan in annoyance.

"This is very cute and all, but can we please get back to my issue with the girl I like who's leaving Japan in a few months? I'm kinda running out of time here and help would be nice."

Kushina waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Like I said, just tell her how you feel. If worse comes to worst, we can kidnap her and keep her here with us if you want."

"Honey, I don't think that's a good –"

"Can we really do that without getting caught though?" Naruto asked in all seriousness.

His mother nodded. "Of course. I have my ways."

"We're not kidnapping anyone's child you two." Minato scolded, causing both his wife and son to huff in response. They were such children sometimes. "Naruto. In all seriousness, you should consider how you really feel about this girl and what your intentions are with her. Your mother and I know you're a good kid, but her father might not. This seems a lot more serious than puppy love, so you really have to think about what you want from Hinata.

"Are you willing to keep in touch with her even after you graduate? Or is this some sort of fling that'll go on for a few months and you'll call it quits? It you aren't serious about it, then maybe you should keep your feelings to yourself and let her be."

Naruto frowned. "But I really am serious about her! She makes me really happy – of course I wouldn't treat her like that!"

His father gave him a warm smile and pat him on the back before getting off of the sofa. "Well, there you have it. I guess you'll be telling Hinata-chan about your feelings for her." Naruto watched his father walk upstairs before feeling his mother's embrace.

"Oh, I'm so proud of my baby! Getting a girlfriend and growing up to be a man, y'know!? It feels like yesterday that I was cradling you in my arms! Time sure flies, y'know? Ahahaha!" She laughed, squeezing Naruto tighter.

"M-Ma… She's not my girlfriend yet… and I… can't breathe…" Naruto managed to say. Kushina let him go quickly, giving him an apology. Finally able to breathe, Naruto sighed. "I never thought I'd be so nervous talking to her. It was always so easy just being next to her and talking to her before all of this but now I get this knot in my stomach, and it's sometimes hard to talk to her while trying not to say something stupid. The funny thing is, I wouldn't change a thing about it."

Kushina laughed. "That's what we call falling in love, my darling. Remember to sweep her off of her feet. And be a _gentleman_. That means no face licking." She said before getting off of the couch, heading into the kitchen to get make herself some tea.

"Like I'd actually lick her face while I'm trying to confess to her…" Naruto mumbled. "Who do you take me for, Ero-sennin?"

"I heard that!" Kushina called out from the kitchen.

Naruto leaned back into the couch and folded his arms, attempting to think about how he should properly confess to Hinata. He thought about being poetic like Romeo was to Juliet or being really sweet and present her with a gift to go along with the confession. After thinking on it for a while, Naruto found the perfect way to express his feelings. He'd just do what he always did; wing it!

He was sure that the words would come to him on the spot. He always did work better under pressure.

* * *

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried, waving her hand. Winter break had already started, and Naruto has asked her if she wanted to take a walk in the park. It was a pretty cold outside and snow was lightly descending from the sky, but Naruto had sounded really adamant about going to the park so she obliged.

The sight of his bright smile warmed her heart, and she ran up to him, bidding him a good afternoon. "Hinata, where are your gloves? Aren't your hands cold?" She looked at her pale hands for a moment before shooting him a sheepish smile.

"I was rushing to get out of the house and I forgot to put them on. I'm sorry I made you wait."

The blond let out a small chuckle. "I don't want you to rush to see me if that means you forget important stuff at home. Do you wanna wear mine?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm okay. But thank you." Naruto nodded, and the two of them began their walk in silence. The sounds of laughing children and dogs barking began to fill the air as they walked side by side, taking in the scenery. The park was so beautiful during all times of the year, so it was a wonderful place to visit.

As their walk continued, Hinata wanted to be a just a little bolder with Naruto. Ino always said to try being bold with the boy you like; there was a 99 percent chance that he'd be okay with it. The other 1% meant that he'd be utterly disgusted and walk away. Hinata was absolutely positive Naruto would never do that. Besides, he was always the one holding her hand every chance he got. What would be the odds that the one time she actually asked _him_ to hold hands, he'd say no? "Um, Naruto-kun?"

"Huh? What's up Hinata?"

"Would you…" She started, a small blush gracing her cheeks. "Would you like to hold hands? Mine are a bit cold at the moment, so…"

Naruto gave a small nod as a light blush covered his cheeks. Hinata couldn't tell if it was from the cold or if he was actually embarrassed. "Yeah… We can hold hands."

They were walking hand in hand now, but something about this felt a bit off. Hinata was sure that Naruto would tease her, saying something like "oh, Hinata did this on purpose, not wearing her gloves just so she could hold hands with me" but no. He wasn't even looking at her.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?" She asked, her voice laced in concern. "You seem a little distracted… Did you want to do something else?"

He seemed to snap out of whatever he was thinking about, because his blank stare shifted into a look of surprise. "Ah, y-yeah. I'm okay. Don't worry about me." Naruto gave her one of his signature grins, but it looked kind of fake, as if he were hiding something. He told not to worry, but that was the only thing that Hinata seemed to be doing. As their walk continued on, Naruto began to look more and more distraught.

His grip on her hand was slightly tighter, and Hinata could see that Naruto wasn't really enjoying himself. "Seriously Naruto-kun. Is something wrong? You can talk to me about it…" At that moment, Naruto stopped walking and let go of her hand, much to her displeasure.

He turned to face her, but he was looking off to the side and not actually at her.

"So, I hear that you're uh… You're going to school in America?" Naruto's hoarse voice questioned. His gaze was soft; somber looking. The harsh winter air reddened his cheeks and he sniffled to keep his nose from leaking. His breathing was steady, as Hinata counted the same number of seconds between each cloud of air he puffed out.

She bit her lip momentarily. She hadn't told him about going to school out of the country, had she? She suddenly felt her stomach churn. Was he angry with her for not telling him? "Nothing is certain yet, but I've applied for colleges in America, yes." She had been practicing her English since she was a little girl. Her father worked with companies in America and a few in England, so it was crucial for her to brush up on her conversational English.

Once she was older, of course, her father pushed her to attempt to become fluent in the language. Although she wasn't as fluent in English as she had hoped, she understood a great deal and found herself prepared to gain an education in America.

"They'll accept you, Hinata. You're a smart girl. There's no doubt that they'll accept you." His voice was weaker than what she was used to hearing. It was a little disconcerting. Hinata wiggled her gloveless fingers around, trying to get blood to circulate through the tips of them since they had become numb.

"Thank you." Things haven't been awkward between them since the second semester of her second year in high school. She gave eye-contact from time to time but her vision was focused on the snowy concrete where their feet had trampled over, time and time again. He wasn't yelling at her to look at him for once – and she knew how much he hated that. When she looked at his face to figure out why, she realized that he was looking down at the ground too.

"Will I ever," he started, sounding very unsure of himself, "will I ever see you again?"

Hinata was unable to answer his question. Would he ever see her again? She didn't know.

And that killed her inside.

She shrugged pathetically, even more disappointed in herself that she couldn't move her lips to say anything to him. She never thought about any of this at all when she was applying for school. How could she not remember that she'd have to leave behind someone so precious to her? Feelings of conflict and uncertainty arose within her. What if she never got to see him again? She felt pathetic for placing him over school, but she couldn't deny that she'd miss him terribly if she had to leave the country.

Hinata's bottom lip quivered, and she was about to open her mouth to apologize to him, but Naruto suddenly grabbed hold of her hands, shocking Hinata out of her thoughts. "Go out with me!" Naruto cried.

Her opalescent eyes widened in shock. Did he say what she thought he said? Slowly, she let go of one of Naruto's hands to pinch her cheek – hard.

"Wh-what's wrong?" He panicked.

"What did you say?"

A rosy tint dusted his cheeks as he looked away from her. "I said…" Slowly, he turned to look her in the eyes. "I said, 'go out with me'! I really like you and, there's still so much about you I don't know! And I want to know all of it! I always think I know enough about you, but you always end up surprising me."

Hinata's eyes lit up. Her breath had shortened. She couldn't move. She had to have been dreaming, right?

"We graduate in March, right? I want to know everything about you from now until the very last second. Please, go out with me."

All of her life. This was the moment she had been waiting for all of her life. Naruto wanted to be with her, to know everything there was to know about Hyuga Hinata. He wanted to walk into her life, and stand by her side. Naruto wanted to laugh with her, to cry with her, to sing and to dance with her. Her heart could soar off at that exact moment.

But it was shackled.

What if this relationship ruined their friendship? What if she couldn't take that step forward and go to college because of how attached she would be to him? Now she knew exactly what Shikamaru felt about Temari, and how Sakura felt about being with Sasuke. She wanted what was best for _her_. She spent so much time building herself up so she could finally love herself. What if she dropped all of that as soon as she fell into Naruto's arms?

And then she cried. The hot tears that ran down her cheek became cold in an instant. She swore that they would have stayed frozen on her cheeks if Naruto hadn't been wiping them away.

"I'm sorry… I'm crying like such an idiot." She sniffled, giving him a weak smile. "I don't know what I should do."

Naruto continued to wipe the steady stream of tears that rolled down her cheeks. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

She nodded. "I… I want to be with you. I've always wanted to be with you, so badly. But an education in America is such a wonderful opportunity and I..." She was beginning to choke on her words. "If I'm with you, I don't think I'll ever want to be separated from you." Sakura was strong enough to put her love for Sasuke aside to love herself. Shikamaru was strong enough to let go of Temari so that she wouldn't become reckless.

Hinata wished that she was even half as strong as those two. Maybe she'd be able to put Naruto aside so she could better herself further. But she could never put him aside, and deemed herself weak for it.

Naruto pulled her into a warm embrace as she began to sob. She did it again. She said she wouldn't cry over a boy again. She _promised_ herself that she would never do it again.

_But this boy is worth it._

"Then you should go to America for school." Naruto finally said. "But I'll… I'll be the best boyfriend you could ever imagine! I'll write you letters no matter how far away you are!" He squeezed her tighter. "And I'll have my parents take me on trips with them so I can visit you!"

Her arms wrapped around his torso and she gripped onto his jacket, too afraid to let him go. "No matter how far apart we are, I'll always be with you. I _promise_ Hinata. So please…"

They stayed like that for a while, until Hinata's crying had stopped. She pulled away to take in his features – those beautiful blue eyes that she seemed to drown in every time she stared at him. His magnificently structured jawline that she yearned to touch. Those soft, warm lips that would smile at her and put her worries at ease.

He was such a beautiful person, inside and out.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He had to do this. He _needed_ to do this.

His face inched ever so close to hers; the tips of their noses just barely grazing each other. Her plush lips parted slightly to say something but nothing ever came out, even as he stared at them expectantly.

Hinata watched as he bit his bottom lip in thought. He seemed hesitant at first – almost scared, but then in a blur, all she could see was a part of Naruto's face very close up. All she could feel was a warm and damp sensation on her lips.

It was rough at first, making her take a step back, but his hands were securely wrapped around her waist. She was unsure of what to do. Hinata had never done anything like this before, and she certainly felt inadequate since he was doing all the work.

She was too scared to even move, but he was kind to her – slowing his pace so that she could keep up with him. Her heart pounded wildly and her hands trembled but her eyelids slowly fell. Soon enough, her fingers were combing through his blond locks and the movement of their lips were synchronized into a gentle and yet, passionate dance.

She didn't need to give Naruto a verbal answer.

The kiss had done all of the talking for them.

* * *

Yay! Finally, this chapter took me forever to write, and I already had that kiss scene written since sometime in mid-May (that's because I've been working/procrastinating.) Anyway, all my loose ends are tied up in this story and I don't think there's any more drama. Hope you're ready for chapter 14: January.

Haha, I'm not. I have no clue when that's gonna be done, but I'll get it done.

See you in the next one!


	14. January

Hi everyone! Here I am again with chapter 14! I'm glad you all liked the last chapter – I was feeling a little self-conscious about it to be truthful. I'm really happy this story is well received, but it's a lot of pressure making sure that I don't break your expectations. ;-;

I also wanted to tell you about _omikuji_. They're strips of paper with random fortunes on them that you buy at shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan. People buy them on New Year's to predict their fortune for the year. You pick one at random from a box and the fortunes range from _Kichi_ (Blessing) to _kyō_ (Curse).

Well, that's about it. Please enjoy.

* * *

**January:** I Know, but You're Totally Worth it

* * *

"Happy New Year, Hinata!" Naruto beamed, taking hold of her hand. The two of them agreed to visit the shrine together to celebrate, and Naruto was glad he suggested it. Hinata always looked so pretty in her kimonos, and she had her hair curled and done up in a side ponytail.

Her soft giggle caused his smile to widen, and when she looked up at him with those demure eyes of hers, he was sure his heart stopped beating. "Happy New Year to you too, Naruto-kun. Ahh, I'm so glad I get to spend time with you today!" She chirped.

After his confession last month, Hinata practically floated into her house, calling herself "Naruto-kun's girlfriend" over and over again. She did earn a few strange looks from her family, but she could care less. If someone had told her during freshman year that she and Naruto would be dating sometime in the future, she wouldn't have believed it.

It felt like a dream; to have him lock eyes with her as the world around them began to white away; to feel the soft trail of kisses he left along her jawline and down her neck. If this were actually a dream, then Hinata never wanted to wake up.

"I'm glad too." Naruto husked in her ear, leaving the hairs on her neck standing. "I can't wait to bring you home so I can have you all to myself." One thing that Hinata learned about Naruto was that he was quite flirtatious and even a little more lewd than the slightly perverted façade he usually put on.

He admitted to her that at first, he felt dirty for looking at her assets over the summer (making her blush like mad) but now, he was a little disappointed that he reprimanded himself instead of letting himself just enjoy the show.

After he caught sight of how red her face became, he laughed and assured her that he wouldn't touch her in that way. Then he hurriedly added "I mean, unless you want me to, then I've got no problems with it" to the end of that sentence.

That's right. All of this had happened only over the course of the first week they had been officially dating. Uzumaki Naruto was not kidding when he said that he wanted to know everything he could about her until the absolute last second. That also went for her learning everything about him that he could throw at her.

"I don't want to hear all that talk from someone who was scared to confess to me." She teased lightly. Call her a hypocrite, but even if she was scared to confess to him, at least she wasn't currently making bold statements as if her bashfulness was never a factor before they became official.

Naruto's face truly flushed; his eyes opening wide and his lips forming into somewhat of a pout. "Th-that's different!" He cried. His arms made their way around her waist and he rested his chin onto her shoulder. "Jeez, who knew Hinata could be so mean. Confessing to you was one thing since I wasn't sure you'd accept my feelings. Now that I know you feel the same way, telling you that I wanna make out with you is easy."

"You didn't phrase that statement as if you only wanted to make out." Hinata countered, with a small blush on her cheeks.

Her boyfriend let out a low chuckle. "You're so dirty Hinata; always assuming."

She pouted, and the blush across her face grew larger as she tried to wriggle herself free from his hold on her but he tightened it. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Naruto laughed before placing a small kiss on her cheek. "You're so cute when you're all pouty like that."

The blush on her face had gone away for the most part and she was able to calm herself down. "I've always liked you, Naruto-kun so I'd always accept your feelings." He gave her another squeeze and let out a content sigh.

"I'm really grateful that you did. I know I'm not the best guy in the world, but I'll be the best that I can for you." In her eyes, Naruto was already the best person she could ever imagine having as a boyfriend, but even when she voiced that, it didn't seem to be enough for him. "Let's go give our prayers to Kami-sama, okay?"

The couple walked hand in hand to the front of the shrine. They clapped their hands together and bowed slightly, silent in prayer. Little time passed before the two stood up straight again. "So, what'd ya pray for?" Naruto asked.

"I prayed for my family's well-being, and that the two of us will share more wonderful memories together. What about you?" Hinata smiled.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well… I prayed that you'd get into the school of your dreams." Hinata could tell that he struggled to make that prayer and in an instant, she threw her arms around him, almost making him lose his balance. "Woah! You okay…?" He asked. Hinata hadn't said a word and nuzzled her face into his neck. The blond smiled before wrapping his around her, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Oh, thank you so much. It really means a lot to know that you care."

"Of course I do. It's so easy to be selfish… But I want what's best for you." It was such a wonder to her how Naruto couldn't see how amazing he truly was. It may have been such a little thing to him but to her, having someone she admired and cared about dearly tell her that he's standing by her dreams; it gave her such an overwhelming feeling of glee.

They stayed in each other's arms for another moment before pulling away. "I'd like to buy omikuji. I hope I get a good fortune this year." Hinata said.

Naruto chuckled, guiding his girlfriend to the vendor. "I get good blessings every year, and I'm sure I'll get it again this year."

Hinata giggled. "Oh, is that so?"

"Of course. I mean, I've got you, don't I?" He beamed, giving her a wink. The dark haired teen wrapped her arms around Naruto's arm as they continued on their way to collect their fortunes. Once the couple received them, they immediately unfolded them.

Hinata's eyes widened, and a smile graced her lips. "I got chū-kichi!" She cried. A middle blessing fortune – this year would surely be a great one! This meant that hopefully, she'd pass all of her exams and even get into the school that she had her heart set on.

Her white eyes focused on her boyfriend who looked absolutely mortified. "N-Naruto-kun, are you alright?" He shook his head slowly before showing her his unfolded fortune. "Dai-kyō…" Hinata read aloud in her usual soft voice.

Naruto had gotten a great curse, and she shuddered at the sight of the terrible fortune. "What do I doooo?" He whined as his hands trembled.

"Let's go tie it to one of the pine trees! Hopefully it won't come true if we do that, right?" Hinata attempted to motivate her boyfriend, in hopes that he'd cheer up. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, as Naruto sadly trudged up to the pine tree with Hinata right by his side.

"Hey, is that Naruto and Hinata?" The couple turned around to see a very chipper looking Ino waving at them with Sai in tow. Once they were close enough, Ino wished them a happy new year to which they returned the favor. "You know, I thought it was you. You're always wearing such pretty kimonos – how traditional!"

It was true, growing up in a very old-fashioned family sort of rubbed off on Hinata. She and Neji always wore kimonos and yukatas during events like these from when they were small children. They never quite broke out of that habit. Ino on the other hand dressed up quite nicely, Hinata had to say, with her expensive looking coat and lavish purse that looked as if it were imported from another country.

Ino's smile broke into an impish smirk, which she then covered with her right hand. "And oh my, are you two are holding hands? How cute!" She teased. The blonde wasn't expecting for Naruto to squeeze Hinata's hand, nor did she expect him to give her such a haughty smirk.

"Well yeah. Why wouldn't I hold my girlfriend's hand?"

She gasped, placing her hands on her cheeks. Sai looked slightly surprised as well, but his face couldn't hold a candle to his girlfriend's shocked expression. "No way! Are you for real!? Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you two!" She squealed, splitting up the couple as she linked arms with her dark haired friend. "You have to tell me everything! Did you guys go on a first date yet? Did you two kiss?"

Ino chatted with Hinata, walking away from the spot they spot they met up with each other. The two boys followed closely behind them, and Naruto noticed that Ino's bag was open. He never did get rid of that fortune, did he? He looked at Sai, who was currently sending a text message on his phone and deemed this the perfect opportunity before cautiously slipping his bad fortune into her purse.

If he couldn't get rid of his bad luck, he could always share it with others. Misery does love company, after all.

"You look really happy." Sai remarked. "Hinata really makes you smile, huh?"

Naruto grinned. "Of course! I just have to return the favor."

Sai's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Naruto, she's always been smiling at you. From what I remember, you've been making her smile since our second year." He explained, remembering when he first figured out that Hinata harbored feelings towards Naruto during their trip to Ino's summer home.

"That long ago, huh?" He said thoughtfully. "I didn't think she had feelings for me then. I always thought it was safe to assume that she hated me." He chuckled. To think that the shy and quiet Hyuga who went through great lengths to avoid him actually had a crush on him. He didn't see that one coming; that was for sure.

His pale friend gave a small laugh of his own as well. "So, did she figure out just how dickless you are yet?"

A large blush grew on his cheeks and Naruto raised his fist in anger. "We've only been dating for a week! And stop saying stuff like that about me; it's getting really annoying!"

"Ugh, Naruto, stop screaming. I can't hear Hinata over your loud voice!" Ino reprimanded him briefly before focusing her attention on Hinata again. "So, you never answered my question. Did you guys kiss yet?"

Hinata's cheeks reddened slightly and she nodded. "Y-yes… After he confessed to me." Ino gave a light squeal and Hinata laughed.

"That's so cute! At least he made a move on you. Sai is so shy and clueless when it comes to relationships, so I had to kiss him first." Hinata thought it was rather cute that Sai was a bit shy when it came to relationships. He never really knew what to say or how to do anything, and the blush that would color his face when Ino would wrap her arms around him was adorable.

She and Sai were alike. Hinata hadn't quite gotten used to Naruto's arms wrapping around her so frequently, but now she had to get used to unexpected kisses and him burying his face in her neck which slightly tickled.

After the couples parted ways Ino dug around in her purse for her phone. "Hm? What's this?" She asked, pulling out a folded paper.

"Dai-kyō…?" Sai read aloud before looking at his horrified girlfriend.

She let out a blood curling shriek.

"W-was that Ino?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it's nothing." Naruto grinned.

* * *

"It actually tasted kinda funny, but I didn't wanna be rude and not finish it. My mom spent a lot of time making it and she'd kill me if I threw it away." Naruto sighed. School had just ended, and the blond wasted no time rushing towards Hinata's desk to talk to her.

He was currently telling her about a recent diet his mother had gone on and was cooking everyone's meal around her dieting standards. Naruto and his father weren't pleased with the outcome, but they knew better than to upset Kushina.

Hinata giggled. "You're so sweet, supporting your mother like that."

The blond grinned, inching his face closer to his girlfriends. "And just how sweet am I?" Suddenly, Naruto's face jerked away from hers, and he felt as if he were being choked. Sasuke held him by the back of his collar with a rather annoyed expression on his face.

"If you're done flirting with Hinata, we should be getting a move on."

Naruto thrashed about, attempting to free himself from Sasuke's grip. "I'm _not_ done flirting with Hinata, let me go!" He cried out in a rather strained voice. The Uchiha didn't budge.

"Hyuga and Nara are already waiting downstairs. Stop being ridiculous and let's go!" He growled, dragging a shrieking Naruto out of the classroom as Hinata waved goodbye. She finished packing up the rest of her books in her bag as Kiba and Shino made their way over to her.

"Yo, Hinata." Kiba greeted with a bright grin. "What was that all about with Sasuke and Naruto?"

"Well, college entrance exams are this weekend… And Naruto-kun hasn't been studying as much as he should've been, so Sasuke-kun, Shikamaru-kun and Neji-niisan are going to help him study as much as they can." Hinata answered. She practically had to beg them to help Naruto, and when the tears began to well up in her eyes, they reluctantly agreed to do so. She understood why they were so reluctant. They all had their own studying to do, but Naruto really needed friends who would help him focus, and besides Shino, those three were the most "no-nonsense" people that she knew.

Shino folded his arms. "Why aren't you helping Naruto study, Hinata?"

Why, he asked? Well…

_"__So, all we have to do here is factor out the…" Hinata looked up from her book only to find that Naruto had his eyes on her the entire time. "Naruto-kun… are you even listening to me?"_

_He hummed for a moment before answering. "I'm trying to Hinata but you're just so pretty." He said in awe. _

_A light blush hit her cheeks, then she quickly shook her head. "This is serious. You have to pay attention otherwise you'll fail the college entrance exam."_

_"__Okay! I'm focused! Teach me everything you know!" The look of determination on his face made Hinata smile and she went back to tutoring him again. Five minutes later, Naruto had his arms around her waist and was leaving the softest trail of kisses on her jawline and down her neck._

_She was in a state of bliss, and hadn't realized they had wasted over an hour cuddling and leaving faint kisses on each other's skin._

"And so we ended up not getting any work done…" Hinata finished explaining with a rather monstrous blush covering her face.

Kiba's eye twitched and he tightened his fist in anger. "Does that guy have a death wish or something?" He growled.

"Well, they are a new couple Kiba, it only makes sense." Shino said in an attempt to call his friend down. It didn't seem to work, since the scowl on his face worsened. "Hinata, we should all do some studying too. Why? That is because the exams are so close, so it would be beneficial to work together."

"Ugh, do we have to?" Kiba grumbled. Hinata and Shino shot him jaded looks. "Okay, okay! We'll do a cram session then!"

(^o^)

"I don't understand why we have to do this at my house. Why couldn't we go to Neji's house?" Naruto pouted as his friends took out numerous books for their study session. He didn't want to study. He wanted to play basketball like all the underclassmen were doing right now.

Of course Hinata had roped him into this study group since she said that they couldn't study together anymore. Naruto didn't understand why. He thought they were doing a great job of studying each other. Nevertheless, he was willing to try his hardest to please her but being in a study group with Sasuke, Shikamaru and Neji?

Talk about harsh.

"That's because Hinata's going to be there and you don't know how to control yourself around her." Shikamaru commented offhandedly, annoying Naruto in the process. He placed his arms on the table, using them as a cushion for his head.

Neji frowned. "You're going to sleep!?"

"Yeah. Wake me up if you need me to look over answers or whatever." He mumbled before drifting off to sleep.

The blond huffed. "It's not fair that Shikamaru gets to just sleep while I work."

"Alright Naruto, we need to get to work. Now. Open your mathematics book and turn to page 72." Sasuke ordered, and Naruto begrudgingly obliged. "We're doing all of these problems, so you better keep up with me, got it?"

The blond sighed, working out the problems Sasuke instructed him to do. Neji watched the two of them, slightly impressed with how quickly Sasuke took charge. Now that Neji thought about it, he wasn't quite sure if Sasuke decided to Naruto out for Naruto's sake or Hinata's. He seemed adverse to the idea when she first asked. Upon seeing her pouting face and glossy eyes, it was very difficult to say no to Hyuga Hinata.

Shrugging that thought away, the Hyuga thought it would be worth his time to do some homework in the mean time until it was time to help Naruto with history. After some time had passed, Neji could hear the loud clattering of a pencil on the table with a groan accompanying it.

"I can't do this anymore! Can't concentrate!" Naruto cried with his hands on top of his head.

Sasuke wasn't quite pleased with Naruto's outburst. "We've only been doing this for a little over a half an hour. Pull yourself together."

"Naruto," Neji spoke, placing a pink box on top of the table, "this is for you."

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion and Sasuke raised his in question. "Thanks…" Naruto said. "But what is it?"

"It's baumukūhen cake. Hinata spent hours making it last night just for you."

There was a sparkle in Naruto's eyes. His princess stayed up last night just to make him some cake? She was so thoughtful! Just as he reached out for the box, Neji slid it further away from him. "She also told me you can have it when I've felt you've done enough work."

Naruto's heart plummeted. "What!? When will it be enough then?"

"I'll tell you when I think you've done enough. It would surely be a shame to have to take this back to Hinata and tell her you didn't fulfill her expectations." A mischievous smirk played upon Neji's lips as he watched Naruto work through pages and pages of math problems. Satisfied with his work, the Hyuga sat the box back on the ground next to him as Sasuke watched slightly in awe.

_The Hyugas are pretty amazing. No wonder Dad does business with them…_

(^o^)

"And what year did he become the prime minister?" Neji questioned, waiting for Naruto to give him the correct answer. Neji gave Naruto an entire lecture on everything they had studied about history over the course of their high school career and was currently quizzing him on it.

It looked like Naruto retained a lot of that information, which was good. However, he seemed to know about Japan's history more than world history, and that was a bit of a problem. Still, Naruto was pushing past Neji's expectations and was learning (or relearning) rather quickly.

"Uh, in April of 1931, during the Shōwa period, right?" Naruto answered with a bit of uncertainty.

Neji nodded. "Correct. Next question."

Naruto groaned. "No more! Can we please take a break? Please?"

They Hyuga glanced up at the clock and sighed. Naruto hadn't gotten a break since Sasuke assisted him with mathematics, and they had been studying for a little over three hours now. "I guess a break couldn't hurt." Neji placed the cake box on the table once more. "Here. I suppose you've done enough work to earn it."

The blond grinned, prepared to open up the box but his lazy friend beat him to it. "Oh, Hinata made baumukūhen. Are we eating now?"

"You've been sleeping for three hours and you're only awake when I'm about to have my cake!? Go back to sleep you moocher!" Naruto cried, raising his fist in the air.

Shikamaru yawned. "Maybe if you weren't taking so long to study, I could have done my part and helped you with chemistry by now. Did you guys even go over foreign languages?"

"No." Sasuke answered. "I didn't think Naruto could handle cramming for more than three subjects in a day, so I thought we'd go over them tomorrow."

"We're doing this tomorrow!?" Naruto groaned. He decided that he was done with studying for the rest of the year, but the rest of his friends didn't see it that way. Of course he wanted to get into college; it gave him a little more time to try new things and would help him decide what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

Hinata also wanted him to do well and he was set on making her proud too, but it was so hard to focus sometimes. He would stay motivated for ten minutes or so, and then his brain would melt down afterwards, not wanting to do anything anymore. Naruto was beginning to think he wasn't cut out for college.

If he was having this much trouble studying to get in, how would he even begin to study to get out? "Do you guys think I'm too stupid for this stuff? Be honest."

His friends all shared similar looks before returning their attention back to him. "Although you act like it sometimes, you aren't stupid Naruto." Sasuke answered simply.

"Yes. You have potential to be a good student, and you do learn pretty quickly. You're just not able to keep focus for long periods of time."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "We also wouldn't have kept on helping you this long if we thought you had no hope of passing the college entrance exams."

Naruto's azure eyes widened in wonder at their words. He knew they weren't the nicest people in the world and trusted that they wouldn't sugarcoat anything for him. The pit of his stomach carried a feeling of glee; they really did believe in him.

These were people who were all hailed as prodigies in some form or another. The fact that they collectively believed he could do this gave him a new wave of confidence. "Shikamaru. Let's eat later. I wanna work on chemistry now."

The lazy teen's eyes widened in astonishment before he agreed to Naruto's wishes. No one had ever seen Uzumaki so focused before – it were as if he were completely a different person. Their study session lasted for another three hours before the boys decided to call it a night; deciding that they'd work of a few other things over the next two days so that Naruto would be undoubtedly prepared for the upcoming two day exam.

It wasn't just a passing thought or a wish he had in his heart anymore. Naruto was definitely going to pass the entrance exam, no matter who told him otherwise.

He had some very important people who believed in him, and he wasn't going to let them down; including himself.

* * *

"I didn't think it was too challenging, but I know I messed up on some of the questions." Hinata said. "I actually thought it was going to be pushed back because of all the snow." She, Sasuke and Sakura were all chatting before homeroom about their entrance exams.

Sakura folded her arms and nodded. "I thought I was going to be late! The trains were so slow! Ino, Naruto and I were stuck in a train car with a ton of students from different schools too."

"How unfortunate… My chauffer drove me." Sasuke said nonchalantly, causing Sakura to frown.

"Well we all can't be like you, can we Sasuke?"

The Uchiha smirked, placing his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. "I guess not." He said with smugness.

The pink haired teen rolled her eyes and Hinata let out a small giggle. It was nice to see those two talking normally again, putting their issues behind them. By talking normally, she meant Sasuke making his usual offhanded remarks (which he claimed was teasing) while Sakura would shoot what looked like playful glares his way.

At least she didn't get too riled up like Naruto did. "I'm glad you got there on time, Sakura. Shikamaru-kun told me that Temari-senpai said if you were late, you'd just have to wait next year to take the exam."

"Oh yeah! I heard that too! I'm so glad that wasn't the case. Otherwise, I'd –"

"Hinata!" Naruto cried, dashing into the classroom. "Good morning~!" The words were muffled as his lips came to contact with her cheek. A light blush spread across her face, embarrassed by being kissed in front of her friends, who were pretty surprised.

Sakura's look of shock turned into that of annoyance. "Naruto you idiot! I was having a conversation with Hinata! Get off of her!" The blond refused to listen, wrapping his arm around his beautiful girlfriend while nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck.

"I missed you Hime."

"I… I missed you too…" She squeaked, her blush reddening by the minute. "B-but, we're at school now. Maybe you should stop…?"

"No." He replied childishly.

Sasuke grimaced. "You're disgusting." Naruto removed one of his arms from around Hinata to flip Sasuke the bird, to which he promptly smacked away. "Sensei's going to punish you for disorderly conduct."

Naruto didn't answer. He could care less if their teacher walked in now. He hadn't been able to talk to Hinata much for an entire week with all that exam preparation. All he wanted to do was hold her, and maybe everything and everyone around them would just disappear.

The sudden slamming of the sliding door jarred him out of his thoughts.

"UZUMAKI!"

If only the rest of the world did disappear at that exact moment. Naruto's face contorted into a mix between "this isn't what it looks like" and "oh God, please don't kill me" before he slowly removed himself from Hinata. "H-heeeey Neji. Now I know you're upset but trust me, this isn't what it looks like. Oh God, please don't kill me!"

"Because I'm feeling kind today, I'll give you a five second head start." Neji said coolly. Even though he appeared calm, he was in his "I'm annoyed" stance. Naruto wasted no time bolting out of the classroom, and like a true man of his word, Neji waited five seconds before running out to catch him.

Sakura placed a hand on top of her forehead and sighed. "He _knows_ how protective Neji gets about Hinata, and yet, he never learns. Sometimes I think he just lets your cousin pulverize him for fun."

The blush on Hinata's face was gone now, but a look of concern for her boyfriend washed over features. "I hope he'll be okay…"

"He'll be fine." Sasuke assured her.

Hinata's face looked bright and hopeful for a moment. "Do you honestly think so? Neji-niisan can be quite brutal…"

The Uchiha nodded. "Of course. Naruto can take a beating pretty well." A smirk accompanied that sentence and Hinata's face fell.

Sakura shot him a jaded look. "Sasuke… You're not helping at all."

(^o^)

Hinata ran her fingers gently over the bandage adorning Naruto's forehead. "I am so sorry… Does it hurt? Did he do anything else?"

The blond gave a small chuckle, placing a hand on her soft cheek. "Don't worry about it. I'm okay." He circled his thumb on her cheek for a moment, staring into those pearl eyes of hers. No one was in the infirmary with them, so it couldn't hurt to steal a little kiss.

She was a bit startled when he did. The kiss was chaste and didn't last very long at all, but that didn't stop her from blushing profusely. Naruto tilted his head to the side in question. "How come you're so red? It's not like we haven't kissed before."

Sure, Hinata's cheeks had gotten a tinge of color in them when their lips met, and grew darker when his kisses trailed down her neck – but this was just an innocent peck. Hinata shook her head. "I know, I know. It's just that –"

The school bell rung out, notifying the two that classes were about to begin. "I'll tell you about it later, okay? For now, let's head back to class." She walked out of the infirmary and Naruto stared at the empty door way before standing up.

What was that all about?

(^o^)

"And then she gets really shy and starts blushing like crazy. I don't get it at all." Naruto mumbled as he folded his arms.

Shikamaru leaned back in his chair and groaned. "Why do you feel the need to ask me about your relationship problems? Go ask your girlfriend – that's what couples are supposed to do, right?"

Naruto huffed. "I wasn't asking, I was telling! And it's not a problem! I'm just telling you that she's been acting strange recently." Shikamaru wanted to say "sounds like it to me" but he didn't want to hear the blond's mouth anymore.

Unfortunately, another blonde spoke up instead. "That's because you're too clingy." Ino lightly scolded with her hands placed loosely on her hips.

Naruto rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Ino, you're the _last_ person I want telling me that I'm too clingy. You're always on Sai like a leech." Then he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. Shikamaru noted that she must've hit him pretty hard since her knuckles were sporting a bright red color. "Wh-what was that for?" Naruto croaked out, clutching the back of his head.

"I'm _trying_ to help you out! The least you can do is be grateful!" She cried.

"I didn't ask for your help!" He shot back. However, she ignored that statement.

"Hmph. I'm on Sai because he said he likes it. I don't mind it at all but he… told me he read in a book once that physical contact in relationships are a very good thing so he always wants us to be close. I'm not going to deny him." Ino explained.

Yup, that sounded like Sai alright. But just what kind of book was he reading anyway?

An mischievous grin broke out on Naruto's face. "So, physical contact, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows and Ino promptly slapped him on the side of his head before taking a seat next to him.

"Don't be dirty; it's nothing like that." She crossed her legs ever so swiftly and rested her elbows on the desk. Her fingers laced together and she gently laid her chin on them. "Anyway. Hinata and Sai are very different. I'm sure she doesn't read about creating a positive relationship. And she's also not the touchy feely type of person. She probably just wants her space."

"That's exactly what I was gonna say." Shikamaru said.

Ino snorted. "C'mon Naruto, did you need a genius to tell you that?" She asked, referring to her lazy friend. Naruto didn't respond. His eyes were closed and his arms folded as he hummed in thought. It made sense. She would often push him away from her before they were dating.

Maybe she was actually a bit uncomfortable with all of that touching. If that were the case, then he'd certainly lay of a little bit. He'd do anything to make her happy.

(^o^)

"Naruto-kun, are you ready to go home?" Hinata chirped as she practically skipped over to his desk, schoolbag in tow.

He let out a low chuckle. She was just so cute – the way she spoke to him and the way she smiled… Ugh! He wanted to wrap his arms around her so badly. But he couldn't. He had to control himself. "Yup! Can we stop to get something to eat on the way?"

Hinata's opalescent eyes widened and a smile graced her lips before she and her boyfriend spoke at the same time.

"Cinnamon rolls!"

"Ramen!"

The couple looked at each other for a moment in slight astonishment before simultaneously speaking again.

"Cinnamon rolls!"

"Ramen!"

Then they both pouted. "Naruto-kun, we had ramen the last time we went out…" She whined.

That was true, but that was a while ago – back around New Year's. "But cinnamon rolls aren't filling!"

Hinata gasped. Did he really have the gall to say that? This was the same guy that had to eat numerous bowls of Ramen to feel full! "But, ramen doesn't fill you. You eat so many of them in one visit." Now it was Naruto's turn to be slightly offended.

He placed a hand over his heart with a pained expression on his face, as if she had just stabbed him there. "You're so mean Hime! I eat it so much because it's delicious!"

The rest of their friends watched jadedly as the couple bickered over what to eat. "Are we watching their first fight or something?" Kiba asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"I guess so…" Sai murmured.

"Fine! We'll settle this with Janken!" Naruto cried, raising his fist.

Hinata raised hers as well. "Yoshi! I refuse to lose!"

Sasuke felt his eye twitch. "They're such children."

(^o^)

Hinata pouted as she walked next to her rather cheerful boyfriend down to Ichiraku's. "I can't believe I lost…"

Naruto flashed a bright grin. "Choji was right about scissors being victorious!" Their walk was pretty quiet for a while until Naruto felt her take hold of his hand. He looked over at the dark haired beauty in surprise as a small blush made its way to her very cute and pouty face.

"I… I'm still mad at you…" She mumbled. "But I wanted to hold your hand…"

The blond let out a small laugh. One thing he learned about Hinata was that she could be quite childish. She was always so adorable when she puffed out her cheeks and pouted at him. Naruto wondered if that's how she got when she was genuinely upset. He hoped that she didn't – he'd never be able to take her seriously if that was the case.

"Hey, Hinata. Why are you fine with physical contact now? You didn't like it earlier."

Hinata stopped walking and looked her boyfriend straight into is bright blue eyes. "I love it when you hug me, and it feels wonderful when we kiss. I just don't think that school is the most appropriate place for it… At least for me anyway."

Naruto blinked. "So, you're totally okay with me touching you?" She nodded. "And you don't mind when I'm all over you?"

The dark haired teen laughed. "Of course not. It does make my heart beat really fast though."

He quickly wrapped his arms around her, resting his forehead on top of hers. "You mean like this?"

She giggled, placing an innocent kiss on his lips and he backed away, blushing furiously. She had never initiated anything before, so to say he was surprised was an understatement. "What's wrong?" She asked teasingly.

"I-it's nothing…" Naruto took her hand, continuing their walk to Ichiraku's.

* * *

"It's terrible…" Hinata murmured meekly. Her legs felt like they were going to give out on her and her arms were tired from holding the watermelon over her head. It wasn't helping her case that it was a scorching hot day at the beach either.

She looked straight ahead, only to see four figures rapidly charging towards her. Soon, she could make out the faces clearly. Rock Lee, Neji, Naruto and Shikamaru were headed straight towards her in their swimsuits with quite scary looks on their faces.

"GOAL!" They cried in unison, all of them preparing to tackle her – or rather, the watermelon that she had no idea why she was holding in the first place.

"IT'S TERRIBLE!" She screeched. Her cousin back away from her, quite startled.

"Wh-what is!?"

Hinata opened her eyes, only to find that she was in her bedroom, and Neji was crouching at the side of her bed. He wasn't wearing his swim trunks anymore; just his school uniform. Hinata jolted up, putting her hands in front of her. "Don't attack me!"

"What are you talking about!?"

She took in her surroundings once more. "Why…? We were just at the beach… What happened?"

Neji looked at his younger cousin in bewilderment before placing his hand on top of her forehead. "Your fever hasn't gone down at all. You're burning up. And you're hallucinating." He sighed. Oh right. She had caught a cold. The dark haired teen sniffled, before sneezing violently and letting out a groan.

"Everything hurts…" She whined.

He grabbed a box of tissues from her nightstand and handed them to her. "Blow your nose." Hinata did as she was told before giving another miserable groan. She felt as if she were on fire, and her nose was stuffy and irritated. However, no matter how many times she sneezed, it never felt better. She fell back on her bed, looking up at her cousin who was checking his phone for the time.

"Ah, Neji-niisan. You'll be late if you don't leave now."

"Don't worry about it." He stood up. "Ko will be here to check on you and make sure you have everything you need. Hiashi also took the day off just to keep you some company too. I'll do my best to come back from school as soon as possible. If you're feeling well by then, we can go over the notes from today."

Hinata frowned. "But you have club activities."

Neji shook his head. "Not for today. I won't be going. See you after school." With that, her cousin exited her room. She sighed. Today was going to be such a boring day.

(^o^)

"Hey Neji. Class is about to start and Hinata isn't here yet. Did something happen?" Naruto's voice was peppered with concern as he looked into the white eyes of the student council president. He sat in the same row as Hinata; one desk separating him from being directly behind her.

He gave a sharp nod. "Yes. Hinata is at home. She's sick."

The blond gasped. "Is she okay? It's nothing too serious, is it?"

"It's only a cold but she'll have to stay in bed for a while." It was nice to know that someone fussed over Hinata just as much as he did. Who would have thought out of all people, that person would have been Uzumaki Naruto?

"Let me go to your house with you! I wanna see her!"

Maybe Naruto was a bit too fussy. Neji closed his eyes. "Of course not." He said simply.

Naruto frowned. "What? Why not!?"

There were several reasons as to why Neji didn't want Naruto in their home. Hinata would be upset to know that he made people worried about her. Ko and Hiashi probably wouldn't like Naruto, and if they found out that he was Hinata's boyfriend, things would surely go sour from there.

The Hyuga opened his eyes to look a rather disgruntled Naruto. "Don't take this the wrong way… Listen, you've heard stories about my family, haven't you? And I'm sure Hinata has told you a few things as well."

He nodded. The Hyugas were – and still are – rolling in cash. They, along with the Uchiha's, were old money. The Hyuga's had a reputation to uphold as being one of the most prestigious families in Konoha. They funded a lot of things in this city - even their school!

The Hyugas were no joke.

And then it dawned on Naruto. He was dating the head of Hyuga Corps eldest daughter! Would Hinata's dad even approve of him? "Were you gonna tell me that I don't live up to the Hyuga's expectations?" Naruto asked bitterly.

Neji shook his head lightly. "See, you're taking it the wrong way already and I haven't even said a word yet."

"Even if her dad'll think I'm a total loser, you've gotta take me with you! I'm not there for him – I'm there for her."

Naruto was way too tenacious for his own good sometimes. Even so, this put Neji's worries about Naruto's intentions at ease. If he wasn't serious about her, he'd never have the nerve to even ask to go to the Hyuga estate just to see Hinata. "Alright. I'll take you."

He blond punched his fist into the air. "Haha! Yatta!" He cheered.

"You need to be on your best behavior though. Do I make myself clear?" Neji said between gritted teeth.

Naruto nodded. "Crystal!"

(^o^)

Naruto had only taken three steps inside of the house and already he felt as if he were lost. This place was huge! It was as big as Sasuke's place, if not bigger! The blond slid off his shoes and slipped on the slippers one of the servants provided him with.

She even had servants. He guessed that Hinata was a princess after all.

"Would you please tell Hiashi that I've brought a guest over to see Hinata?" He asked the servant who bowed in response and quickly left to complete the task. Neji motioned for Naruto to follow. "Hinata's room is just upstairs. Follow me."

"Oh! A guest?" A high pitched voice called out. "Is it Onee-chan's Uchiha boyfriend?" Hanabi revealed herself from another room, still dressed in her school uniform. Her grin slowly went away as she studied the blond boy next to her cousin, who looked quite sullen. Her eyes then focused on a very annoyed looking Neji.

He folder his arms. "Hanabi. This is Uzumaki Naruto, Hinata's _actual_ boyfriend."

"I guess you were right about them not liking me. They probably wanted her to date Sasuke, huh?" He said darkly.

The younger of the two cousins gasped before wildly flailing her arms about in an attempt to make Naruto feel better. "I am so sorry! I was just messing around when I said that – I didn't know that Onee-chan even had a boyfriend!"

"Oh, so Hinata's boyfriend is visiting." The three of them froze at the sound of Hiashi's voice. He looked as calm as ever when we approached them, and carefully studied over Naruto's face. He could tell the boy was scared, and that was the way it should have been.

Though, there was something familiar about this child. "Are you Namikaze's son?"

"Yes sir, Uzumaki Naruto."

So _this_ was the Naruto he had heard so much about through his daughter and nephew. He had to say, Naruto was almost a carbon copy of his father in the looks department. He wondered if they both possessed that same tenacious and cool attitude.

Minato was a photojournalist, one of the best ones out there; earning the name the Yellow Flash. He showed up to a number of Hiashi's events with his reporter. The two were some kind of force to be reckoned with – always in someone's hair. Always taking some sort of problematic picture without anyone else's knowledge.

Hiashi had to say, the man was good at what he did and made him look good in the paper on more than a few occasions. Hinata's father turned away and began walking towards his study. "Hinata is upstairs and has just woken up from her nap. Also, tell your father I say good day."

Her father was gone and Neji and Naruto quickly looked at each other. "Does this mean he's cool with me? Like, he's not gonna have me killed later on today?"

"I guess not." Neji said in amazement. "I mean unless you screw up." That was something Naruto wouldn't allow. "Come on, let's go see Hinata."

(^o^)

Neji just knew she was going to make a fuss about bringing Naruto here. She said everything he predicted, from "I told you not to make anyone worry about me" to "This is so embarrassing – Naruto-kun has to see me like this! Why didn't you tell me he was coming?"

Of course, as soon as they entered, Naruto pulled up a chair right by Hinata's bedside and began to fawn over her. He took her hand and began rambling about how worried he was and that he missed her and how he would take care of her. Neji thought it was best if he stopped listening after that.

"Well, I will be taking my leave from you here. We'll go over today's notes when Naruto leaves." Hinata nodded, and the faint clicking of the door signified that the two were alone.

Naruto turned to face her and placed a hand on her forehead. "You feel really hot. Are you sure you're okay Hime?"

"Yes. It was actually much worse than this in the morning." She giggled.

Her boyfriend pouted. "That's not funny. That's actually really scary. But I'm glad you're okay though." He ran his hand through her long, silky hair. "Oh yeah…" He muttered.

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Uchiha boyfriend?" Naruto asked, as if he were slightly hurt and Hinata's face contorted in horror.

"N-no she didn't! I told Hanabi to stop calling him that!"

The blond waved it off. "Don't worry about it."

_You were the one who brought it up…_ Hinata frowned.

"Let her think whatever she wants. We know the truth, so it's all good, right?"

His mood changed just as quickly as the weather, but Hinata laughed it off. "Well, if you say so, then I gue–" Hinata paused to sneeze, and a string of snot ran down from her nose. "Oh gross! Don't look!" She cried, covering her nose.

Naruto drew out a few sheets of tissue from the box. "C'mon, move your hands." His voice was gentle and warm. Hinata reluctantly moved her hands and he placed the tissue underneath her nose. "Here, blow."

When she finished, he tossed the tissue into a nearby waste basket. "Do you need me to do anything else for you?"

Hinata shook her head. "No. I'm a lot better now that you're here." Naruto snorted.

"You're so cheesy!" He laughed. She let out her own giggle too. "But I'm glad you're feeling better." He leaned in to kiss her and she gently placed her index finger on her lip.

"You'll catch my cold…" She mumbled.

Naruto gave her a blank stare before shrugging his shoulders. "Okay. Now ask me if I care." She removed her finger from his mouth and laughed before he muffled it with his own lips. God he missed kissing her so much.

The couple's innocent kissing turned into a passionate make out session, as it usually did when they were alone. It included dainty fingers running through blond hair, toned arms wrapped around a small waist and even the small nibbling of someone's bottom lip (which made Hinata squeak out in surprise).

Two days later, Hinata felt better than ever, and was ready to take on the school day. However, her boyfriend caught her cold and missed a few days of school, just like she said he would. Hinata visited him every day.

"I told you that you'd catch a cold…" Hinata frowned.

Naruto laughed. "I know, but you're totally worth it."

* * *

I had a lot more fun with this than I originally thought. Well, I never thought I'd get this close, but there are only two more chapters left to this story and I can't wait to share them with you!

…Once I finish writing/editing them. (I haven't started!) Look out for chapter 15: February!

See you in the next one!

(Also, if you're wondering, yes. Hinata's dream is directly taken from Rock Lee's Spring Time of Youth, episode 19.)


	15. February

Heeey! I'm here with February. I've actually been rereading all of my previous chapters *shudders* and I've been combing through for any errors I missed and I've fixed them. I made some really bad mistakes, how do you people put up with me? Though, I probably still missed a few again, who knows. I'll go back over them when I can.

I'd also like to clarify some terms. _Honmei-choco_ means love chocolate – you give those to the person you love on Valentine's Day. _Giri-choco_ means friendship/obligation chocolate – you can give them to your friends/coworkers or pretty much anyone you feel obligated to give them to but they're not romantic. When Naruto brings up _giri-choco_, he's insinuating that the person he's speaking to received a friendship chocolate from a person they were romantically interested in.

There's also _Okaka_ which is dried skipjack tuna.

Now that that's cleared up, here's chapter 15.

Please enjoy!

* * *

**February:** I'm Officially in Love with You

* * *

"That's why you have to help me!" Karin cried, clapping her hands together. She and Hinata were having lunch together in classroom 3-2, which Hinata wasn't quite sure why at first. Sasuke was having lunch in Karin's classroom with Suigetsu and Jugo, and Hinata didn't mind eating with all of them.

That was when Karin explained that tomorrow was Valentine's Day, and she wanted to give something special to her caretaker. However, she was short on money and thought that Hinata could help her bake a few things after school today. "He's special because of all he's done for me, so I really want to show him that tomorrow with chocolate. I'm begging you."

Hinata gave a sympathetic smile. "It's alright Karin. I'll help you. Let's meet up at the lockers right after school ends, okay?"

Karin grinned. "Thank you so much Hinata! This really means a lot to me!"

"Oh? What's going on after school today?" Ino had walked up to them with her hands on her hips. She looked genuinely curious and Hinata shot her blonde friend a small smile.

"Ah, we're going to my house after school to bake some Valentine's chocolates."

Ino gasped. "Do you guys mind if I come too? I –!" She stopped herself before leaning in to whisper to the two of them. "I really want to do something special for Sai… And I wanted to do something nice for Shikamaru and Choji too."

Karin blinked. "That sounds like a nice idea, baking stuff for your boyfriend… He is your boyfriend, right?" Ino nodded.

"You can come with us Ino, it'll be tons of fun!" Hinata chirped.

Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle at Hinata's words, and she jumped up and down giddily. "Aww, you're so nice Hinata! Thank you so much!"

The three of them chatted for a moment before Tenten stealthily made her way over, startling Ino in the process. "Tenten! You scared me!" She huffed.

"Shhh!" The martial arts expert hissed before glancing over at Lee and Neji. Then she turned her attention to the girls around her. "Is it true that Valentine's Day is tomorrow?"

Karin and Ino's expressions became dull while Hinata gave a confused look. "Um, yes… Did you not know?"

"I totally forgot." She said in a hushed tone.

"How? There are ads _everywhere_ for this kind of stuff. How could you miss it?" Ino asked.

Tenten sighed. "I've been so busy with the martial arts club. I usually get Lee and Neji something, but the mall will be way too crowded after school today. I heard you three talking about baking at Hinata's house, so I'm here to ask you to take me with you!"

Hinata nodded. "Sure, you can join us. The more the merrier!"

Tenten punched her fist into the air. "Yatta! Thanks so much Hinata!"

She nodded with a smile, and the four of them went on talking about all the things they could bake and how fun it would be. Then the dark haired teen felt a pair of eyes on her. She turned to her right to see Sakura a few seats away giving her a blank stare.

They stared at each other for a while before Hinata tilted her head. "I-if you want to come, you can just ask…"

Ino gave a snort. "Oh please. She's just acting like that because she doesn't want to outright say that she's terrible in the kitchen."

Karin gasped. "Seriously? Haha, I never knew that!"

"Oh yeah, it's pretty bad –"

"**Shut up Ino-pig!**" She cried with a rather large blush coloring her cheeks.

Hinata smiled. Today was going to be so much fun.

(^o^)

The girls watched Hinata in awe as she stood at the counter chopping up a bar of unsweetened chocolate. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and her apron was wrapped securely around her waist. She looked like a totally different person in the kitchen; Ino even called her "mama" much to Hinata's embarrassment.

"Once it's chopped, we put it in this pot, and melt it on the stove for a minute or so. It should melt easier since it's not in a bulk." Hinata explained, as the girls listened intently. "You can add milk and sugar to it to make it sweet. Vanilla in also a good ingredient to put in there."

While she went on speaking, Ino looked to her left to find her pink haired friend scribbling down notes furiously. "It's not _that_ serious Forehead." She said dryly.

"I can't hear, be quiet." Sakura hissed.

When Hinata finished speaking, the girls got to work, chopping up their own chocolates or mixing their own cookie dough in a large tin bowl. Under Ino's request, Hinata stood next to Sakura while she put her pot of chocolate on the stove.

The pink haired teen looked as if she were stressing out and Hinata placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, just take a deep breath. I'll help you."

Sakura did as she was told and gave a smile. "Thanks Hinata…"

"Hinata," Ino called. "Do you have flower shaped cookie cutters?"

"Ah, no I don't. I'm sorry." She answered before turning her attention to Sakura once more.

Karin stared at the cookie cutters for a moment before pointing to some small heart shaped ones. "You can use those and then cut them in half to make flower petals. Then you could use the small circular one for the center."

A look of surprise crossed the blonde's face before she smiled. "Thanks Karin, you're a genius!"

"Eh, I try." She said nonchalantly before returning to cut out her own cookies.

"Guys look!" Tenten cried, bringing a tray of chocolate filled heart-shaped silicone molds to the counter. "I just took them out of the freezer! Wanna see how they came out?"

The two girls nodded and Tenten popped one out of the mold cleanly. "It looks good! Can I try it?" Ino asked. When Tenten gave her the okay, she picked up the bite sized chocolate and popped it into her mouth. "Ah, it's delicious!"

A sheepish smile spread across Tenten's lips. "Haha, thanks. Oh, Sakura. You're done making your chocolates?"

The freezer door had closed shut, and Sakura and Hinata turned around to nod. Karin gave an impish smirk. "Does it taste like death?"

Ino let out a loud cackle and Sakura raised her fist in a fit of rage. "I've had it up to here with the both of you!"

"Sakura-chan did a very good job of making the chocolate. They taste delicious." Hinata smiled before her eyes fell onto the chocolates that Tenten made. "Oh, Tenten. I have boxes you can put those in if you're finished."

While the martial arts expert arranged her chocolates in the box Hinata provided for her, the rest of the girls sat by the counter, waiting for their cookies to finish baking. "So, I made cookies for all my friends, but I still don't know what to make for Sasuke…" Ino mumbled.

"Yeah, me too." Karin said. "It's hard to give him things on Valentine's Day."

Sakura nodded in agreement, but Hinata was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, Sasuke hates sweets." Sakura answered.

Hinata's eyebrows went up in shock before she gave a small pout. "Naruto-kun lied to me…" She mumbled and Tenten asked her what she was talking about. Hinata explained to them that she helped Naruto bake Sasuke a chocolate cake because he put her under the impression that he liked cake.

Sakura gave a jaded look. "Sounds like that idiot just wanted to eat it himself…"

Karin sighed. "More importantly though, what are we going to do now?"

The dark haired teen hummed in thought. "Well, what does Sasuke-kun like to eat?"

"Tomatoes." Sakura answered.

"Rice balls." Karin chimed in.

"Those are so weird to put in a pink Valentine's Day box…" Hinata said quietly. "But if you guys want, we can make him some rice balls."

Tenten laughed. "He's lucky so many people care about him. But hey, what're you going to make for Sai, Ino?"

The girl in question shot Hinata a look of determination. "Hinata, I want to make Sai something really great! Not just little cookies! What'd you make for Naruto? I need to replicate it!" Hinata gave a small laugh and took out a cookbook, pointing to a small cake with powdered sugar dusting the top of it.

"This is a molten lava cake. When you cut into it, warm chocolate filling comes out, and you can eat it with ice cream on the side. Since it has to be eaten right after being baked, I'm going to Naruto-kun's house tomorrow after school to bake it for him."

Her face lit up as she was speaking and the aura around her was bright and bubbly. The rest of the girls stared at Hinata for a while in silence until Karin spoke up. "So… Is there any way than I can convince you to break up with Naruto so that I can date you?"

"I second that notion." Tenten said.

Sakura nodded. "Me too. He doesn't deserve you."

"I'd break up with Sai for you. I'm already blonde with blue eyes, I'll paint whiskers on my cheeks just for you!"

"You're such a cheater, Ino." The pink haired teen muttered.

Hinata shot them a very lackluster look. "You can't just paint whiskers on your cheeks…" Suddenly, the timer went off, and the girls went to check on their cookies. While the cookies cooled off, Karin and Sakura made rice balls together while Tenten watched as Hinata helped Ino make some very fancy looking chocolates for Sai.

Once everyone was finished with baking and packaging their presents for tomorrow, the girls stayed back to help Hinata clean the kitchen, as it was only fair. When they finished, Hinata handed them clear plastic bags with pink ribbon tied around it.

"These are for you." She smiled. "You all are such wonderful friends, and I'm very glad I found the courage to talk to you. You girls mean a lot to me, and you're very special, so thank you all for being such wonderful friends."

The four of them listened in awe before they could hear sounds of sniffling. "H-Hinata…" Ino sniffled once more before throwing her arms around the surprised Hyuga. "You're so sweet! Thank you so much!"

Karin followed Ino's lead, rubbing her cheek against Hinata's. "I've never gotten Valentine's chocolates before! I'm so happy! You're the best Hinata~!"

"Really, Hinata. This means a lot." Sakura smiled fondly at the treats in her hand.

"I can't wait to have some. Your food always tastes great! Thanks!"

The dark haired teen could barely speak with Ino and Karin on her, so she managed to give Tenten and Sakura a thumbs up, to which they chuckled at. "Alright, alright. It's getting late you two." Sakura said. "We need to get going."

"We'll see you in class tomorrow Hinata!" They all waved goodbye before buttoning up their coats, slipping on their shoes and headed out the door. The four of them walked in silence. Then Ino spoke up.

"I want to give her something for tomorrow too… But I don't know what…"

Tenten nodded. "She's so kind to all of us, but we can't just run into a shop and get her something. Everything is sold out."

She was right. All of the Valentine's Day presents practically flew off of the shelves already, and baking her something probably wouldn't have gone well for them. "I really wish we could return the favor somehow." Sakura sighed.

Just then, Karin had a brilliant idea. "Then let's return the favor!" She cried, stopping the girls in their tracks as she stood in front of them. "Let's get her a White Day present next month!"

Ino, Tenten and Sakura all exchanged looks before smiling at the redhead in front of them. "Karin, you're a genius!"

"Eh, I try."

* * *

"…Rice balls?" Sasuke muttered, staring at them in a little pink box. There were four of them and were all shaped differently, meaning that four different people made them. He wasn't surprised that he had gotten a Valentine's Day gift – in the 17 years he had been living, he'd always received at least 12 of them. What was surprising was that they were rice balls.

Hinata nodded. "They have okaka in them too!"

"We figured we wouldn't waste time making you sweets." Karin said, folding her arms.

Sasuke stared at them for a while longer before pointing to the largest rice ball. "Who made this one?"

Ino giggled. "Sakura and her man hands."

"Ino you dumb pig! Shut up!" She cried, shaking the blonde by her shoulders.

The Uchiha found the entire situation amusing. "Thanks, I appreciate it. Especially from you, Man Hands."

Sakura let out a frustrated scream as the rest of her friends giggled. It seemed that everyone was enjoying their treats today. Choji was ecstatic to receive sweets from Ino and Hinata and even though Shikamaru didn't sound all that happy about his chocolates, Hinata could see it in the way that his eyes slightly widened when she and Ino placed them on his desk.

Kiba and Shino appreciated her chocolates, as did Neji. He was also surprised that Tenten decided to bake chocolate for him and Lee. Sai was extremely happy to receive chocolates from his girlfriend and his "art student." Hinata could see how genuine it was, and he even pulled Ino into a hug.

It was interesting to see a blush on Ino's face for a change.

As for Naruto… "I can't wait till school's over so you can bake me chocolates Hinata!" He cried, as the corners of his mouth pulled his lips into a wide grin. He didn't even receive his chocolate, and yet, words couldn't describe how happy he was.

She let out a small giggle as she listened to how much he appreciated it and that she was the best girlfriend in the world. Hinata didn't know about being the best, but she always did what she could.

"What kind of chocolate is it that you have to come over to my house to make it?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, it's actually a type of chocolate cake that's best served warm." Hinata answered. She couldn't hold back the small laugh that escaped her lips when he swayed from side to side, much like a child. Naruto was just so cute. "Can we stop at the store to pick up a few things on the way to your house?"

He nodded. "Of course!" The school bells rang out, and their teacher was surprisingly on time for homeroom today.

"Alright kiddies, get in your seats." He said. Hinata could see some chocolate sticking out of his pocket too. She wondered who could have gave them to him.

However, she wasn't the only one who noticed "Sensei," Naruto called out, "are those _honmei-choco_?" Class 3-2 was filled with the buzzing sound of students chatter about their teacher's love life.

"You're as nosey as ever I see, Naruto." Their teacher said nonchalantly.

The blond chuckled. "Or maybe they're _giri-choco_."

"Uh-huh, and just where are your chocolates? Or did no one give you any this year?" he asked snidely.

"I'm getting something better than that! Hinata's doing something real special for me when we get home!"

Their homeroom teacher cringed while the rest of the class went in uproar.

"Hyuga-san and Uzumaki-san are going home together for Valentine's Day?" One classmate questioned.

Another snickered. "You know what happens when people get together like that, right? And Uzumaki's parents are hardly home."

"I didn't know that Hyuga-san was such a bad girl. It's always the quiet ones."

"What? I'd do anything for Hyuga to be bad with me for five minutes! Uzumaki sure is lucky!"

A large blush covered her face and she quickly turned to look at her clueless boyfriend. "N-Naruto-kun!" She whispered harshly. "You can't phrase things like that, you'll give people the wrong impression!"

He didn't seem to be listening though, as his focus was on another boy in the class. "Oi, Fujiwara! You wanna repeat that sentence again!? Just _who_ do you want to be bad with you!?" Naruto cried, pointing his finger at a boy whose grin could rival his own.

"Oh my God…" Hinata mumbled, burying her face into her hands.

Sasuke shot his best friend a jaded look. "You're so dumb sometimes…"

(^o^)

"Get out of the kitchen!" Hinata tried to protest. She ended up laughing as her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her waist from behind while she whisked the cake batter in a bowl. "You're going to make me mess up!"

Naruto nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent. She smelled like vanilla. "No, I wanna be this close to you forever." Then he made an obnoxiously loud sniffing sound and groaned dramatically. "Ugh, you smell so nice!"

Hinata had to set down the bowl at that point; her laughter and clutching of her stomach surely would have caused the batter to spill. "You're so weird! Get off of me!" Naruto relentlessly held on to her, even as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, causing them to move around the kitchen.

The blond gave an evil cackle. "Hahaha! What will you do now miss? I've got you in my grasp and I'm never letting – ouch!"

He released her as she let out a gasp and quickly spun around to check on him. "Oh, are you okay Naruto-kun? Did I hurt you or something?"

"Nah… you kinda pressed against my side. That's where Neji got me during lunch today." He said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Hinata frowned. "I'm sorry he keeps hitting you… But you can't say things like that in school. You'll give people the wrong idea."

She wasn't expecting for him to pull her into a warm embrace. "Who cares? That's our own business, isn't it? Besides… It's not a terrible idea."

"Naruto-kun!" She reprimanded, her face reddening in embarrassment as she buried it into his chest.

"I'm only kidding Hime." He let out a soft chuckle. "But do I really have to wait out there until you're finished?"

Hinata pulled away to look at him with a pout on her lips. "Yes, otherwise stuff like this happens."

He gave a long sigh. "Alright, alright. I'll let myself be kicked out of my own kitchen. Can I at least have a parting gift?"

The dark haired beauty stood slightly on her toes to give her boyfriend a small kiss on the lips. "Satisfied?"

Naruto hummed in thought. "Nope! Another one please!" Hinata let out a giggle, acceding to his wishes. "How about another one?" He could tell by the pout on her face that he was pushing his luck. The blond ended up stealing a quick peck from his girlfriend's lips before leaving the kitchen. "Yeah, yeah! I'll leave you alone now!"

The sound of the video game console starting up gave her the confirmation that he wouldn't be coming back into the kitchen anytime soon.

Now she could finally work in peace.

(^o^)

The way Naruto's eyes sparkled when he saw the hot cake next to the ice cream made Hinata's heart stir. He shifted his gaze from the cake to his girlfriend in awe. "Are you really my girlfriend?" He asked, causing Hinata to blink.

"Wh-what kind of question is that?"

"No, it's just… this is really great. You're amazing – cooking stuff for me and you're always making me smile. You're such a beautiful person. What'd I do to deserve someone like you?" He said, and Hinata could feel her face heat up.

Then she brought herself back to Earth. "N-no Naruto-kun. It's Valentine's Day. I should be telling you how I feel."

"Yeah? Then how do you feel?" He wasn't grinning and his tone wasn't playful at all. Naruto stared at her from across the table, serious about listening to her feelings. His azure eyes bore right into her opalescent ones and she chewed on her bottom lip.

Her breathing hitched slightly and before she knew it, she reached across the table to hold his hand. "I… I actually wanted to confess to you last year. I got so nervous that you wouldn't accept my feelings, so I tried to play it off as though I was giving it to you because you're my friend."

Hinata could feel his grip of her hand tighten ever so slightly; he was comforting her. "I've actually liked you for quite some time now. Ever since middle school, you were so cheerful and full of life, a glaring contrast to my dull and gloomy self. You were constantly moving around, not wanting to wait around on anyone and you were always so understanding of people; willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"I think the biggest thing that drew me to you was your resolve. You never gave up on anything, from basketball to fixing your grades; you've always valued hard work and you put all of yourself in everything you do. And you're always proud to show that. Naruto-kun, you're such an amazing person and I feel like I'm the lucky one. I get to have such a kind and compassionate person at my side."

Naruto stared at her in amazement. He never thought another person could think so highly of him that they would consider themselves lucky to be with him. And yet, here Hyuga Hinata was doing exactly that! "Hinata…" He started, unsure of what to say. He was rendered speechless.

"I think you should eat that before it gets cold." Hinata said with the warmest of smiles as she pointed to the dish.

"R-right…" He mumbled, digging into his cake. The chocolate filling spilled right out as he cut into it, and the warmness of the cake with the coolness of the now half melted vanilla ice cream made a perfect combination. He'd have to add this to his list of treats that he absolutely loved.

Once he was finished, he moved over to Hinata's side of the table and sat on one of the cushions on the floor. She tilted her head in question just right before he wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you so much, Hinata. I really don't know what to say… How many times do I have to call you amazing before you get tired of it?"

Hinata returned the hug, adding a gentle squeeze to it. "I'd never grow tired of hearing you say that about me."

"You're amazing, you're amazing, you're amazing!" Naruto repeated in between placing kisses on Hinata's cheek. She laughed, attempting to tell him that it tickled. Then Naruto did something incredibly mean; tickling her sides. She let out a sharp gasp, and then a squeal; crying for him to stop.

Their playing had resulted in Hinata trying to jerk away from him and she ended up lying on her back with her boyfriend hovering over her. He wasn't moving his fingers along her sides anymore. He was just staring at her, and she stared back at him. The room around them was silent, aside from their very light breathing.

"I…" Naruto started breathlessly, taking in the beauty that was his girlfriend. "…I love you." Was it too early to say it? He didn't care. If he felt it, then he felt it. There was no harm in telling her how he felt.

"I love you too." She responded in the same tone. "…Kiss me."

Naruto wasted no time doing just that. His lips tasted of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and they were cold against her warm ones. Her hands found their way tangled into his hair while his struggled to keep him propped up. He didn't let that stop the passion in his kiss.

This must have been what bliss felt like.

* * *

"Let's see who can swing the highest!" Naruto grinned. "Loser has to pay for lunch!"

"Bring it on!" Hinata cried, balling up her fists in determination as the cutest pout formed on her lips. The couple decided to spend their Sunday at the park, walking together, chatting together and just being plain silly together.

At first, Hinata didn't want to go to the park. She thought it would be much too cold to walk around outside. Naruto was able to convince her otherwise and told her that they'd be able to have a blast together. Needless to say, Hinata was having a great time.

She spent the first part of their time together taking goofy pictures of her boyfriend who was as photogenic as ever. Her favorite one of him was the one where she called out his name and he turned to look at her. The shutter in the camera had gone off in that exact moment, capturing the curiosity of those shining cerulean eyes. The small parting of his lips were captured as well, and Hinata remembered him saying "Yes Hime?" right after the picture was taken.

Although he thought it was a cool picture, Naruto's favorite was the one he had taken of Hinata off guard. He had told her some lame joke and she found it so terrible that she began to laugh He caught her in mid snort, where her eyes were shut tightly and her nose scrunched up in the most adorable way.

She absolutely hated that picture, saying that she looked like a witch. Naruto said that she looked like a cute witch, but that didn't make her feel any better. He eventually convinced her to let him keep the picture after he told her that he found everything about her really cute.

After picture taking, Hinata lightly flicked Naruto's nose before running off in the other direction as he was hot on her trail. She should have known that she would never be able to outrun her basketball player boyfriend. It was impossible. He caught up to her quickly and grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around a couple of times. Naruto had refused to let her go until she apologized properly with a kiss.

She purposely held out on kissing him for a while, just so she could stay in his grasp just a little longer. After that, Naruto told her that he wanted to play on the swings. He was currently winning their little competition, and Hinata didn't like that one bit. She just couldn't swing higher for the life of her.

Was there some secret technique one had to master in order to do so? Because she was trying everything in her power to go higher and it wasn't working. "Okay, I know when I'm beaten. You win."

"Yatta!" Naruto cried, attempting to slow down his momentum. Hinata watched in amusement as he tried to drag his foot on the ground to get himself to slow down. It had taken him a good two minutes to finally stop. "I thought I was gonna be on that thing forever!"

Hinata giggled. "It would have stopped eventually."

"…You're starting to sound like Sasuke. He's a terrible influence on you; you guys need to cut your friendship time in half." Naruto pouted.

"Eh? I'm not sounding like Sasuke-kun. If anything, he says that I sound like you, and that I need to stop."

Naruto gasped. "And what's wrong with me!? That asshole!"

"Nothing is wrong with you. I think you're perfect the way you are."

"So, since I'm so perfect, can I have two prizes for winning our competition?" Naruto grinned.

Hinata laughed. "You're so greedy, I'm already taking you for lunch. And I'm not kissing you if that's what you want."

Naruto frowned. "What? Why not?"

"You've got snot coming from your nose." She pointed at him and giggled and he quickly turned away from her while digging for a handkerchief in his coat pocket. Once he found it, he cleaned his nose and shot his girlfriend a glare.

"You're so mean to me sometimes!" He cried.

"Maybe we should get lunch now, Naruto-kun? It is pretty cold out." Hinata suggested, and Naruto got up from the swing, holding his left hand out for her to hold onto. She graciously accepted it, and the two of them walked to Hinata's favorite café (since he promised they'd pick her favorite place after going for ramen multiple times.)

(^o^)

"Do you think they have that cake you made for me on Valentine's Day? I wanna try it again!" Naruto beamed. Hinata looked up from her menu with a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"They might have it. If it's not on the menu, you can ask our server about it."

Naruto hummed in thought. "So what're you gonna get Hime?"

Her smile widened. "I'm going to have a cinnamon roll and some milk tea."

Her boyfriend chuckled. "You're so predictable." He said teasingly, causing her to blush lightly.

"A-and who's the mean one now?" Hinata huffed.

"Sorry Hime~!" He grinned. Soon, their waitress had come to take their orders. It looked like Naruto would be able to have his cake after all. That was reassuring to Hinata. She knew Naruto, and he would've just begrudgingly ate a piece of strawberry short cake if the molten lava cake wasn't available.

Naruto stretched his arm across the table, indicating that he wanted to hold hands and Hinata obliged him. "So, how's everything been working out with preparing for school?" His voice sounded neutral. She was glad that it came off that way. She would have felt terrible if he sounded sad. At least this meant that he absolutely wanted everything to go right for her.

Hinata was grateful for that.

"Well, I won't know if I got in or not until March. But to prepare for it, I've been practicing my English with Neji-niisan." She answered, and he hummed in thought for a moment.

"Say something in English." He beamed.

She blinked. "Eh? Why?"

"Because it'd be cool!" He seemed to be so excited about it, and Hinata didn't want to disappoint him.

She slowly let go of his hand from across the table to tap her chin in thought. Then something very cliché came to her. "_I love you._" She smiled, and Naruto frowned.

"I love you too, but everyone knows what those words mean. Say something else!"

It was Hinata's turn to pout. "I don't know what else to say."

Naruto gave a snort. "Well, you're not gonna just go around telling everyone you love them, right? Hmm, here's what we'll do. I'll ask you a series of questions, and you answer 'em in English, okay?" When his girlfriend gave a nod in response he grinned. "Okay, let's start off with something easy. How are you today, beautiful?"

Her usual milky white skin changed into a slightly rosy tint upon hearing her boyfriend's compliment. He then questioned why she was blushing. "You can't just – ah, _you cannot say things like that while not expecting me to be taken by surprise._"

"That's so cool!" Naruto cried. "Okay, okay, um… What're all of our friends doing today?"

Hinata only knew what a few of them were up to, but she still answered Naruto's question anyway. "_Um, Kiba… is playing with Akamaru while Shino is researching bugs at home. Ino is helping out at the flower shop… and Shikamaru is at home with – _Ah! That liar! He's across the street right now, look at him!" Hinata cried, pointing at the large window they were sitting next to.

Naruto turned to see that she was right. He had headphones in and was looking at his music player. "I wanna text him!" He said with a glint in his eye as he fished for his phone in his pocket. Hinata watched as Naruto's thumbs quickly tapped the buttons on his phone before hitting the send button. Then he gave a low chuckle. "I told him, 'I see you.'"

"He's so confused." Hinata giggled as she watched her lazy friend look around him. Then she heard a buzzing come from Naruto's phone. "What did he say?"

"He asked where I was." Naruto texted back. "I am nowhere… Or maybe I'm everywhere…" He muttered as he pushed the buttons before sending it. The couple then turned to the window and watched him cringe.

Shikamaru sent back another text message, saying that Naruto was just at home being ridiculous. The blond thwarted his accusation however, when he was able to tell Shikamaru what he was wearing, which kind of creeped him out. When the couple saw that Shikamaru was about to look at the café window, they both instinctively laid down on the small love seats they were seated at.

At that moment their waitress had come back with their orders. The two raised their heads slightly to look at her. "Um… is this a bad time?" She asked. The couple shook their heads no and urged her to leave their food on the table.

Once she left, the couple sat upright again and noticed that Shikamaru was gone. "Ah, he must have gotten upset and left." Hinata mumbled.

Naruto gave a hearty laugh. "Isn't he supposed to be the smart one? And he couldn't even find us. He was always terrible at hide n seek."

"For your information, I _am_ pretty smart."

Naruto froze and Hinata let out a squeak as they heard Shikamaru's rather annoyed voice ring out. "H-how did you find us?" Hinata asked.

The prodigy shoved his hands in his pockets. "When I looked at the window to this place, the waitress was serving food to an empty table, which was suspicious. I saw that one of the plates had a cinnamon roll on it and immediately thought of Hinata."

"See? I told you. You're predictable." Naruto pouted.

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "What confirmed my suspicions was when you two kind of poked your heads up. I didn't notice Hinata's dark hair against the couch, but Naruto's sticks out like a sore thumb."

Now it was Hinata's turn to pout at her boyfriend. "D-don't gimmie that look! You act like I can just change the color of my hair on cue!"

"You two are so troublesome. I don't know why I put up with you two."

"Shikamaru-kun, would you like to eat with us?" Hinata asked with a smile.

He raised an eyebrow in question. "Won't I be intruding on your date?"

"Nah, we're just hanging out." Naruto grinned.

"We had a proper date last weekend. Think of this as us making up for being mean just now. Besides, it's my treat." The dark haired teen's offer was successful, as Shikamaru sat down next to Naruto. The three of them chatted and made jokes, just as they did inside school. When they left the café, Shikamaru split up with them, saying that there were errand he had to go run for his mother.

Naruto told Hinata that he'd walk her home, and the two of them walked hand in hand. "You know," he started, causing Hinata to look at him, "that cake wasn't as good as the one you made for me. I was kind of disappointed."

Hinata giggled. "That's because I made it with love, and my feelings reached you before you ate it."

The blond rolled his eyes. "Oh please. If I ever tried to make you something like that, it'd taste horrible, no matter how much love I put into it." She only laughed in response and he gently squeezed her hand. "But, hearing nice things from the person you love before you eat their homemade food is a good combination."

"I was thinking the same thing while I baked it."

If only he were a terrible person. He wouldn't feel conflicted if he begged her to stay. But he wasn't.

He promised to send her off with a smile.

* * *

"A double date?" Hinata parroted, tilting her head to the side in question. Ino put a spoon full of pudding in her mouth and nodded.

"Mhmm. Actually, it was Sai's idea." Hinata could hardly believe her ears. Since when did Sai care about going on dates? Especially with another couple! "He was really adamant about it, and asked me if I'd be okay with going on one. When I said yes, he asked if I thought you and Naruto would mind, so that's why I'm asking."

The dark haired teen placed the food on her chopsticks in her mouth, thinking it over. Her first date with Naruto had been nerve-wracking. She had never been on one before then and she didn't want to make a fool out of herself in front of her new boyfriend.

Now that they had gone on several dates, she was feeling more comfortable about it. However, sharing that intimacy that they did on dates with another couple? That made Hinata's knees go weak in embarrassment. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad though.

It was only Sai and Ino. If anything, it would probably be just like the first time the four of them hung out at the mall together except, you know, now she and Ino were dating their crushes. Come to think of it, that was her first time alone with Naruto, and in that moment, she swore she was going to faint. She smiled at the memory. At that time, she would have never in a million years thought that she and Naruto would be as close as they were now.

Hinata discarded those thoughts and smiled at her blonde friend. "I think a double date would be fun. But, I don't know if Naruto-kun would want to."

Ino scoffed. "Oh come on. All you have to do is ask."

"But that's no guarantee that he'd say yes." Hinata mumbled.

"What are you talking about? Of course he would! Have you looked in the mirror? There's no way in _hell_ Naruto would be able to deny you. You're his princess. Just do that cute pout that you always do or show off some of your sex appeal. Naruto can't say no."

(^o^)

"No." Naruto said nonchalantly, his eyes focused on his hand held console in front of him. The two of them were seated on the couch in his living room. Hinata frowned, attempting to look her boyfriend in the eye but he wouldn't meet her gaze.

"But why not?" She didn't think he'd turn her down so quickly.

He let out a long sigh before pausing his game to take a look at Hinata. She was pouting – and if she thought that the trembling of her plush pink lips was going to get him to change his mind, she was mistaken. "You know how Ino and Sai are. I'm telling you; the entire time is gonna end up like…"

_"__Sai my love!" Ino would squeal as she latched onto his arm. "I missed you so much! Did you miss me?"_

_Then Sai would give a small nod and a pink blush would grow on his cheeks._

_The blonde would cry out in delight once more. "So, what would you like to eat today Sai?"_

_His immediate response would be, "Ino."_

_Then she would place her hands on her face and sway from side to side as if she were actually embarrassed. "Oh my! You're so dirty! I can't believe you said that, haha! Did you guys hear what Sai said? He's so funny!"_

"Or something like that." Naruto muttered with his arms folded and eyes closed.

Hinata couldn't help but give him a dull look. "Just what goes on in Naruto-kun's head sometimes?" She mumbled, more to herself than to Naruto. Suddenly, she felt his toned arms wrap around her.

"'Sides, if I was gonna go on a date with you, I'd rather it be just the two of us." He said, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

She shivered under his touch, feeling the sensation of damp lips on her neck. "But, I'd like to go. And it won't be a double date without you." He let her go and leaned back into the couch, returning his attention back onto his video game.

"No can do." He said.

"We can do Janken to decide."

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Not gonna work Hime."

She frowned before remembering what Ino had told her. Using her sex appeal to get what she wanted. The first time Ino suggested such a thing was when they first became friends. Hinata was sure she didn't have any sex appeal, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Cautiously, the dark haired beauty crawled towards her boyfriend until she was directly on top of him. He looked up from his game to ask what she was doing but was captivated by this look in her eyes. He had never seen anything like it… But he could have sworn it looked like desire. That thought alone made the hairs on the back of his neck stand. She moved to place her lips ever so closely to his ear, and her breathing tickled him.

"_Please_, Naruto-kun?" She whispered breathlessly. "I promise I'll make it up to you…" Her voice was sultry and enticing. It made his entire body shudder and colored the tips of his ears red. Then he felt something trickle down from his nostril.

His hand held console clattered to the ground and Hinata gasped. "Y-you're bleeding!"

"Shit."

(^o^)

"So glad to see you could make it!" Ino grinned and she clung onto her boyfriend's arm. The four of them were seated at a table at Yakiniku Q. "What made you change your mind? You didn't want anything to do with a double date at first."

Naruto picked up the meat from the grill to his plate, not even looking at her. "Hinata promised she'd make it up to me." The blonde saw the pink hue on his cheeks. Sai took note as well.

Hinata nodded in agreement. "I'm treating him to ramen another day."

"Unfortunately…" Her boyfriend grumbled.

Ino chuckled, and gave her dark haired friend a thumbs up and Hinata giggled. "Oh cheer up Naruto. This is no time to be looking so blue."

"Yes. Act like a better boyfriend." Sai said in a rather monotone voice.

The blond shot up from his glum state and narrowed his eyes at his pale friend across from him. "What the hell do you mean by that!?"

"Now, now. Calm down Naruto-kun." Hinata placed a reassuring hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "I'm sure Sai didn't mean to offend you."

"I did."

Before Naruto could speak, Ino interjected. "So, how's that comic of your coming along, dear?"

Naruto's rage subsided and he looked at Ino quizzically. "You mean the one he based off of Hinata?"

The girl in question covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. "Let's not talk about that please…?"

"You're embarrassed by it? Haven't you read it? It's surprisingly really good." Naruto grinned. Sai was quite offended. What did he mean "surprisingly"? His annoyance with his blond friend went away when he watched Naruto place a comforting arm around her shoulders.

He saw that she relaxed underneath his touch, and slowly pulled her face away from her hands. "Actually," Sai spoke, "I made a new character. He's Miyuki's romantic interest."

Hinata blinked. This may have been a long shot, but she was willing to question it. Sai's protagonist was based off of her looks and personality, and Hinata thought that maybe the protagonist had to mirror her in everything – including relationships. "Sai, are we on this double date for research on your comic?"

"Yes."

_Why do you never feel any type of embarrassment or guilt for your actions?_ Hinata and Naruto were on the exact same page with their thoughts, and stared down their artistic friend with dull expressions. Sai was as blunt as ever – that was no surprise. What was surprising was that Ino continued to eat her dinner quietly. "And you're not bothered by it?" Hinata asked.

Ino shrugged. "Typical Sai. I can't say I'm surprised. He brought it up out of the blue and was so set on doing it. I knew he had to have some kind of ulterior motive."

He smiled. "She knows me so well."

"Of course I do!" She cried, wrapping her arms around him. She placed the faintest kiss on his cheek, producing a faint blush on Sai's cheeks.

"They're such a weird couple…" Naruto mumbled. Then he perked up. "Wait, so if you're doing this for your comic does this mean you're basing a character off of me?" He asked smugly.

"Actually, I based the romantic interest off of Sasuke-san. He'd make a really cool character don't you think?"

Sai's words hit him like a ton of bricks and his posture slumped as Hinata tried to cheer him up. "Since you're the one in a relationship with Hinata, I have to rework things just a little bit. He has blond hair and blue eyes in the comic, if that helps."

Naruto's eye twitched. "No it doesn't help!"

"You two have to act like you usually do. Otherwise I have nothing to go off of." At that point, Naruto didn't know if Sai or Jiraiya was worse when it came to research. Sure, his godfather was gross, but Sai was just straight up annoying.

It was awkward at first, knowing that Sai was keeping an eye on them for his own reasons, but after some time passed, the four of them were able to hold conversations that went on forever, and shared laughs together.

Naruto found it cute that Hinata held his hand underneath the table as she was talking to Ino about… He actually didn't know what it was about. He was just so lost in the way that her eyes sparkled whenever she spoke about something that interested her and how the corners of her mouth tugged at her lips until it became a bright smile.

And he wasn't talking about those little ones that would vanish in seconds. He was talking about the one where her lips parted wide enough to see her teeth. That was the smile that made him squeeze her hand without thinking.

She turned to ask what was wrong and he shook his head. "It's nothing, Hime." Hinata could hear Ino giggle at his little pet name for her and she blushed before turning to lightly scold her. Naruto relished in the fact that she never let go of him, and he wasn't going to let go of her either.

It would probably be a good idea for him to try his hand at being ambidextrous.

"Oh my, it's this late already?" Hinata checked her watch. It was almost 9:30.

"We should probably get going – we have school tomorrow. Dad'll freak out if I'm out late with a _boy_." Ino rolled her eyes.

Naruto froze. "Y-yeah… Let's get you home before Hiashi kills me."

(^o^)

"My father isn't that scary, Naruto-kun." Hinata said. "You'd know that if you'd just have a little chat with him."

"I spoke with him when I went to pick you up on our first date. He's scary." Naruto huffed.

She didn't do a great job of suppressing her giggle. "I'm sure your dad would be the same way if he had a little girl in his home."

Well, she wasn't wrong there. The few times he saw his father get angry, it wasn't pretty. He could just imagine how less lighthearted and more serious his dad would become if he had to fend off drooling boys from his daughter.

"Well, I'm glad your dad's giving me permission to date you." Naruto mumbled.

"Father _thinks_ he's given you permission. I gave that to you two months ago."

Naruto's eyes widened at her words. If it wasn't official before, then it was now. Uzumaki Naruto was madly in love with Hyuga Hinata.

* * *

Wow, this was difficult to write. I think it's because I'm catching a terrible cold now… So, I didn't think I'd actually get to type this, but look out for the next and last chapter: March!

See you in the next one!


	16. March

Sorry this took so long! Life happened.

Anyway, here it is.

Please enjoy.

* * *

**March:** With Hope on Our Lips

* * *

"It's okay, just take a deep breath. I'm here for you." The sound of Hinata's honeyed voice was a temporary cure for the shakiness of his legs and the pinballs he had been sweating. He squeezed her hand in apprehension and she returned the favor in reassurance. Cerulean eyes scanned the list for a particular number: 10976.

A minute had passed, and his eyes wavered slightly. So many numbers had been skipped – what if it had been the case for him as well? All that hard work would have been for naught, making him a ronin; a masterless samurai. It was the name given to students who graduated high school, but failed to get into college.

There was nothing wrong with students who failed the exam and had to re-take it, he knew that. But he would be a liar if he said that failing to get into college hurt his pride. On top of that, there were so many people who went out of their way to help him do this, he couldn't let them down.

He couldn't let _himself_ down.

Feeling another one of Hinata's reassuring squeezes, Naruto searched more intently. It was difficult not to be discouraged, especially when all of the numbers between 10945 and 10958 were missing. Soon, it was as if Naruto had found the light at the end of the dark and desolate tunnel.

10976.

He was able to stand upright again as his eyes widened and his lips parted slightly. It was there. His number was there. "Hinata…" He spoke breathlessly. "It's there."

She let out one of the tiniest gasps he had ever heard. "Where? Where is it?"

Naruto lifted a finger to point at the white paper tacked onto the wooden board. "10976. It's there! Hinata, it's there!" He cried, the feelings of joy and triumph finally washed over him as his arms found themselves wrapped around his girlfriend's waist.

He spun her round and around as she let out a gasp of surprise before laughter arose from the pit of her stomach. "Oh, I'm so happy for you Naruto-kun!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around her neck. "Congratulations! I'm really proud of you."

The spinning had stopped, and Hinata placed a small kiss upon her boyfriend's lips. Naruto's cheeks reddened ever so slightly upon hearing that she was proud of him. "I… I'm proud of you too. You got into your school of choice too, didn't you?" He beamed.

She did. It was odd to her that she didn't have to go out to find her number on a list like everyone else did. Instead, she had to wait on a letter to make its way to her home. When Ko brought in the mail yesterday, she swiped the letter the first chance she got and held it hostage in her bedroom.

It took her a long time to open it, and when she read the word "congratulations" the thin paper slipped from her hands and slowly descended to the wooden floor as she rushed downstairs to tell her father the wonderful news.

Naruto set her back down on the ground. "Let's meet back up with everyone, okay?" He offered her his hand and she graciously accepted it, entwining her slender fingers between his. Their friends had been waiting for them, some displaying their nervous habits.

Sakura squeezed her hands tightly while Ino chewed her bottom lip. She had quite the grip on Sai's hand. Kiba couldn't keep from fidgeting as Shino periodically glanced at his watch. They hadn't been gone for very long; the minute hand only moved twice. However, those two minutes were starting to feel like an eternity.

Neji gripped the sleeve of his jacket, but it wasn't in annoyance this time. Lee and Tenten noticed, and gave their best reassuring smiles. "Don't worry Neji."Lee spoke up. "I'm sure Naruto-kun and Hinata-san will be back soon with good news!"

The Hyuga's eyes narrowed slightly. "I am _not_ worried."

"Could've fooled me." Tenten mumbled.

Apparently Choji was quite the over eater while nervous, as he quickly munched away on his favorite chips. "You think he'll be okay?" He asked Shikamaru between munches. His lazy friend shrugged, and the word "hopefully" was all he uttered.

Sasuke was looking as calm and collected as usual, idly playing with his cell phone. Although a few minutes had passed, he felt that Naruto was taking quite a long time to get back. It shouldn't have taken anyone _that_ long to find a number on a list that went in numerical order.

Unless that person was looking for a number that wasn't there.

The Uchiha tensed, tightening the grip on his phone before he heard the raspy voice that belonged to his best friend. "I found it! I found it you guys!" He cried out, with Hinata in tow. The group was finally able to relax, giving Naruto their congratulations. Some did so via fist bumps and hugs.

"Oi, Sasuke," Naruto flashed his trademark grin, "aren't you gonna congratulate me too?"

A devilish smirk played upon Ino's lips. "Yeah Sasuke, you were looking pretty worried there."

He scoffed. "There was no way that idiot wouldn't pass. He had three of the smartest people helping him cram and I was among them." Sasuke gave a haughty smirk and Hinata watched him intently.

_Oh Sasuke-kun. You say that, however…_ She thought as she looked at Sasuke's hands,_ your hands are trembling…_

(^o^)

Ichiraku's certainly was crowded with lively teenagers right now. Business had been going slow for most of the day, but as soon as Naruto had run in screaming he had gotten into college, a bunch of kids ran in after him; not that Teuchi minded. He was beyond elated for his number one customer – boy, how time flies. Just the other day, that little blond scamp was running around and chatting up customers at random. Now he was off to college, and that made Teuchi's heart swell with pride.

"This one's on the house, Naruto! Congratulations on getting into college!"

One would think Naruto's grin couldn't get any wider, but it did. "Thanks old man Teuchi!" A large bowl of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet was placed right in front of him, and the blond wasted no time digging in.

"My, my, Naruto!" Ino grinned. "Getting free food, getting accepted to college _and_ you've got a cute girl by your side? I'm envious!" A pink hue arose on Hinata's cheeks while Naruto gave a sheepish grin. "And you too Hinata – going to school in New York. Isn't that the capital?"

"The capital of America is Washington D.C." Shikamaru grumbled.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but is it the _fashion_ capital? I don't think so! I want to visit! It'd be so nice to go shopping there!"

Hinata giggled before answering. "Yes, New York City is the fashion capital of America, but I'm not there to shop – I'm there to study."

"But you'll be making tons of pretty clothes. You'll have to do lots of fabric shopping, no?" Sakura asked. She caught a glimpse of Sasuke rolling his eyes and smiled. "Aren't you going to the same school, Sasuke?"

Naruto drew a sharp gasp before wrapping his arm protectively around Hinata. "You better take care of her Sasuke! I mean it!"

The Uchiha scowled. "What do I look like, her bodyguard?"

"Actually, Hinata told Ko that she didn't want him to come with her, despite Hiashi's protests. I guess you're the next best thing." Neji stated before having some of his ramen. Sasuke could only shoot him an incredulous look. Why did her family treat her the way they did? It wasn't as if she would be kidnapped!

"Naruto's right for once." Sakura said. "If anything happened to Hinata, I'll never forgive you."

"And that goes for us too, right Shino?" Asked Kiba, and Shino nodded.

Soon after, the rest of their friends seemed to chime in with "take care of her, or else", much to Sasuke's annoyance. "Excuse me!? Why is everyone ganging up on me!?"

Tenten, who had just finished her bowl of ramen, smirked. "Because Hinata's the princess of the group. She's gotta be protected." Sasuke's eyes left Tenten to focus on Hinata. Surely she didn't feel the same way about –

"Ah, I feel so loved." She smiled, placing her hands on her pink cheeks. The Uchiha could feel his eyes narrow at the sight of her. She was enjoying this attention a little too much if you asked him.

"So, I hear Sakura got into a really good medical school. That's incredible." Choji said before ordering another large bowl of Ramen.

Lee gave a laugh. "Of course she would. As expected of Sakura!"

"Heh, what can I say? I tried my best." Sakura smiled, scratching the side of her blushing cheek sheepishly. Her tone changed into something Hinata would describe as wistfulness. "I'm so envious of you guys though. You all are going to the same school, but I'm going to be by myself."

Ino gasped. "But I did promise I'd see you most days; it's not far from where I'll be going to school."

Sakura waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. I know, but I'm just thinking out loud."

This caused Sasuke's eyebrow to raise in question. "What are you talking about? Karin got accepted to the same school."

"We're not friends!" She cried out a little too quickly with a light blush dusting her cheeks. Ino and Hinata chuckled at her outburst while Sasuke smirked.

"That's not what she told me."

"Why do you listen to her?" She whined. As much of a pain it was to have Karin around sometimes (with her constant teasing), the two of them were actually able to hold decent conversations at times. Sakura learned that she was actually pretty insightful. It wasn't too hard for her to believe they had gotten into the same school.

However, if Karin got word that Sakura considered her a friend, she'd never shut up about it and tease her mercilessly.

Naruto, who was on his fifth bowl of ramen, turned to look at his pink haired friend. "See? You won't be alone then. You'll be fine! And it's just like Ino said – our school isn't so far from yours either." Yes, he said "our" school. He, Ino and Kiba as well Shikamaru, Lee and Choji were all attending the same school.

If Hinata remembered correctly, Sai was going to a very prestigious art school not too far from where they currently lived while Neji and Tenten were attending the same school. It also seemed like the two of them were a little sad that Lee wouldn't be joining them; though Neji would never admit it. Shino would be all alone again, but it was understandable. Not many schools held his passion for entomology.

"I can't shake you guys off for the life of me." Shikamaru commented offhandedly.

His blonde best friend made a face. "You say that, but you're actually happy that you'll be with us. What would you do without us?"

"Sleep." He answered simply. She brushed it off.

"But you know, it's really great that the two of us got in, Ino." Naruto said. "And to think we had that curse looming over our heads in the beginning of the year."

Ino's eyes narrowed, and her lips curled into what looked to be disgust. "How did you know about the fortune I got?"

Naruto began to sweat underneath her gaze. "Huh? Er… that? I think… I think Sai might've told me!"

"I've done no such thing." He answered quickly.

He could have at least covered for him! Ino slammed her hands down on the counter; rather infuriated at that moment. "_You_ were the one who put that stupid fortune in my purse! I ought to kill you!"

As Hinata watched her friend berate her boyfriend, she couldn't help but feel that Naruto's great curse for this year would be his big mouth.

* * *

"Here." Sasuke mumbled, practically shoving the blue box in her hand. "It's one of those disgusting cinnamon rolls you like so much." Hinata, although happy with her White Day present, thought Sasuke could stand to be a little kinder about it. Presents should be given with the utmost respect.

Not forced onto someone as you tell them their present is disgusting.

She wasn't particularly fond of getting used to this for another four years, so she was going to change that attitude of is. "That's all you have to say?" She asked. Sasuke's onyx eyes bore into her white ones. Slowly, and uncharacteristic blush spread across his face. He turned away from her.

"Thanks… for being a friend… and putting up with me, I suppose." His voice was barely audible and Hinata had to strain her ears to hear it but she definitely heard it alright. A huge smile spread across her face, and when Sasuke turned to look at her again, he scowled. "What's with you making that ridiculous face? Stop it."

That didn't stop the joyous feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach. He had tried to say a few other mean things to wipe the smile off of her face, but it was too late. Then she let out a giggle, much to Sasuke's chagrin.

"Mornin' Hinata!" Naruto called out as he made his way over to her desk. When he got there, he looked from her smiling face, to Sasuke's slightly red one. He blinked. "Did something happen?"

Hinata let out another laugh and Sasuke looked away, not even wanting to bother with the two of them anymore. "Nothing really." Hinata answered. "Sasuke-kun just gave me his White Day present." Her boyfriend let out a snort before donning a rather confident look.

"I bet my present'll be a million times better!"

Sasuke found himself turning back around to look at the two of them. "Of course if should be. If you have to compare yours to mine to make yourself feel better, then maybe you didn't get such a good present." Sasuke said, his tone dripping in snide.

When Naruto scowled, he smirked, reveling in the fact that he could never fail to get under Naruto's skin. "They say White Day presents should be ten times better than Valentine's Day ones. Hinata did all that work for nothing."

It was obvious he was only trying to goad him, but her boyfriend was all riled up, crying that he did get a good present. "_And_ I'm returning the favor by cooking for her tonight. Better boyfriend than you'll ever be!"

Sasuke shot Hinata a look of concern. "Yikes. Be ready to get your stomach pumped."

"Ugh! You're such an asshole!" Naruto ranted and raved while Sasuke leaned back in his chair, pleased with his work.

Hinata sighed. Maybe it was a good thing for Naruto and Sasuke to have some time apart.

**-x-**

There weren't that many people in the art clubroom today. Hinata supposed it was because everyone was off doing something for White Day, like fretting over the fact that they forgot White Day was coming up, and were being berated by girls who handed them chocolates.

Sai, however, was looking quite focused on some type of painting. Maybe this year he had a really special present lined up for her, unlike last year's White Day gift. Hinata did find out that Ino actually does wear the lingerie. Surprisingly, it was a perfect fit.

Either Sai was a lucky guesser or he had been paying a lot of attention to Ino before they got together. "Sai," Hinata called out, causing him to look away from his canvas, "what are you making?"

The artist motioned for her to stand by him, and when she did she was absolutely taken back by the beauty Sai had captured on that canvas. It was an oil painting of Ino, and she had such an ethereal beauty about her. Her hair was let down, and a plethora of flowers surrounded her bare shoulders. "This is my White Day present. Last year's wasn't well received, so I thought I'd do something that I'm good at. I know it's a bit unconventional but…"

"It's absolutely beautiful Sai." Hinata said in awe. "But, why paint Ino for Ino?"

The artist blinked. "Because Ino loves to look at herself. A lot."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Hinata mumbled. Sai was right. Ino could be very vain at times; this would be another mirror for her. Speaking of her blonde friend, she practically slammed open the door to the club room open with the biggest of smiles on her face.

"Hinata! You're waiting for Naruto to be finished with basketball, right?" Before Hinata could answer, Ino spoke up again and motioned her to come over. "Come on, let's hang out together while we wait!"

The dark haired teen nodded, whispering a small "good luck" to Sai before grabbing her belonging and joining Ino. Sai never looked up from his work. "Ino?"

"Yes dear?"

"Come back when you're done hanging out."

She grinned before blowing her boyfriend a kiss. "Don't I always?" With that, Ino took Hinata by her wrist as the two of them practically ran towards the gym. Hinata questioned why they were running, but Ino never gave her a clear answer.

Once they reached the doors to the gym, Hinata was too tired to even notice that the rest of the girls were all there as well. "Sheesh Ino. What'd you do, marathon it down here?" Tenten asked, her arms folded.

"I'm sorry, I was just really excited." She laughed.

Hinata, who caught her breath, tilted her head in question. "Excited for what?" The girls exchanged looked before Sakura took out from behind her a rather lovely bouquet of vibrant purple and blue flowers.

"Happy White Day!" The four of them chirped. Hinata gasped, cupping both of her hands over her mouth. "You baked us treats last month, and you're such an angel – we wanted to return the favor." Karin grinned.

"We went to Ino's parent's shop everyday to grow them ourselves! They're extra special!" Tented added.

As Sakura handed the bouquet off to Hinata, Ino draped her arm around her shoulder. "See, these purple ones are Irises. They symbolize friendship – our friendship. The blue one's here are called Forget-me-nots. That one's pretty self-explanatory."

"What we're trying to say is that no matter how far away you are, never forget that we're your friends, and we'll always love you." Sakura's smile was the warmest Hinata had ever seen it. These people… were people she would have never dreamed of talking to. They were all pretty and cool; that alone was intimidating to her.

Yet, here they all were, giving her flowers; telling her how much they loved her. Who would have thought such wonderful people would actually consider her their friend? Hinata was touched; so touched that she began to cry. "Ah, Hinata! What's wrong?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Oh good job Sakura. Your little speech made her cry." Karin mumbled as Sakura shot her a "not right now" glare.

Ino had taken out her handkerchief, and wiped away the tears that rolled down Hinata's cheeks. "We didn't mean to make you cry." Her smile was apologetic, and Hinata shook her head before sniffling.

"No, that's okay." She said shakily. "I just… You all are great friends. I've never had any girls I could call my friends before actually getting to know the four of you, and I'm so glad that I could experience what that kind of friendship feels like. It's a beautiful feeling… It's like having four more sisters." She laughed along with the rest of her friends. "Thank you so much you guys. This really means a lot to me."

"If anyone's to say thank you, it should be us, Hinata." Tenten gave a small laugh. "That's why you've got those flowers."

Then, Ino's eyes began to gleam. "We should take a photo to commemorate this moment! When we get it developed, we can give it to Hinata. The actual flowers will die soon, but a picture will last a lifetime!"

Deeming it a nice idea, the girls all huddled around Hinata as Ino dug her camera out of her bag. Once she positioned the camera, they took about six or seven pictures. On two of them, Ino was sure she blinked. On another one, all you could see was Sakura's forehead. Ino didn't comment on whether or not she did it on purpose. Tenten made a weird face in one and Hinata couldn't stop laughing in another one.

The picture that Hinata loved the most the one where Karin had her arms stretched out towards Sakura, in an attempt to kiss her cheek. Tenten was absolutely caught off guard and her face looked distraught (as did Sakura's) and Ino wore quite the impish smirk on her face. A genuine smile graced Hinata's lips as she watched Karin's attempted attack on Sakura, as she clutched her beautiful bouquet of flowers.

It was her favorite one because it showcased her friend's personalities in a nutshell. "So, are we seriously going with this one?" Sakuka asked dryly. She and Ino were looking at the picture from Ino's new digital camera.

Tenten shrugged. "I don't see why not. It's Hinata's favorite after all."

Sakura sighed in defeat as Karin punched her fist in the air with a grin."Haha! I always knew Hinata had good taste!" Soon the doors to the gymnasium opened up, and the basketball team were piling out little by little. "Oh look, the boyfriend is here." Karin giggled, as she lightly nudged Hinata.

When the two of them locked eyes, Naruto sprinted towards her. "Hey, I told you I'd come get you today. You didn't have to come down here to wait for me." The rest of the girls let out small laughs, and it was at that moment that he realized Hinata wasn't alone.

"Well, hello to you too Naruto." Tenten said with a laugh. "Nice to know we're practically invisible while standing next to Hinata."

Naruto waved his hands about frantically. "Wait a sec! I didn't mean –!"

"It's fine, it's fine." Ino waved her hand dismissively before turning to Hinata. "When I get a chance, I'll send you that photo, kay?"

She nodded, and the rest of her friends bid her a goodbye along with suggestive winks as they told her to have fun. Sheesh, it wasn't as if they were going to be doing anything dirty. When she turned to look at her boyfriend, his eyes were practically glued to her bouquet of flowers.

He pouted. "So, what guy gave you flowers for White Day?" Hinata blinked. Then she bit down on her lip to keep from laughing but was unsuccessful. Naruto's eyes widened in shock and narrowed shortly after. "Don't laugh, I'm being serious!"

"I know! That's why it's funny!" She laughed, before wiping a tear away from the corner of her eye. "You're so jealous."

A large blush colored Naruto's cheeks. "That's not true! I just… er…" Well, it was true. Hinata looked awfully happy with those flowers in her hand. She wore one of the prettiest smiles he'd ever seen, and it slightly ticked him off that he wasn't the cause of it.

Hinata's lips met his own for a quick second before she let out the giggle that never failed to make his heart stir. "You don't have to worry about things like that. No one's going to steal me away from you. The girls gave these to me just now because they think I'm a wonderful friend."

"Because you are. But you're an even better girlfriend." He chuckled, draping his arm around her shoulder. "Now come on, Ma taught me how to make cinnamon rolls, so I'll make 'em as best as I can for you!"

Naruto's cinnamon roll was a little burnt, but Hinata still loved it anyway.

* * *

"Wow Hinata, you're really good at this. This is the third time you've won." Naruto said in awe as he watched his girlfriend place the drumsticks back into the holder on the side of the game machine. Since they weren't required to go to classes this week, Naruto thought it would be a good idea to invite all of their friends to hang out at the arcade. It would be one of their last moments together and now that school was practically over, everyone had some free time on their hands.

Hinata smiled. "Kiba-kun is really good at this game. He'd teach me how to play when we were in elementary school." She was never able to beat him, however, but she swore that she would beat him someday. In the television shows, the student always overpowers the master by the end, right?

Naruto shifted his weight on his right foot, shoving his hands in the pockets of his orange hoodie. "Speaking of, where is he anyway?" Hinata pointed to one of the fighting game machines where a few of their friends were crowded around. When the two reached, they could see the large pixelated word "loser" on Shikamaru's screen.

"Are you kidding me? I lost again?" He said incredulously as Kiba snickered from the other side of the game machine. "How do you keep winning? All you do is press buttons sporadically."

"Excuse me, it's called button mashing," Kiba retorted with a snort, "and yeah, duh! That's the whole point of the game."

The lazy teen cringed. "I refuse to believe that. There has to be some strategy to this game, and I'm going to find it. We're playing again."

"Suit yourself!" Kiba laughed. "But prepare to get your butt smacked again!" They all watched for about a minute or two as Kiba defeated Shikamaru again with ease. "That makes five to zero! Sure you wanna keep going?" He taunted.

The annoyance on Shikamaru's face was prevalent, and he was about to take Kiba up on his offer again until Tenten ushered him out of his seat. "Oh no you don't Shikamaru, you had several chances. I think it's my turn now." Once he was standing on his feet again, Shikamaru muttered something about the game being too troublesome anyway as Tenten slid into the seat. "Alright Kiba, let's see what you're made of."

The shaggy haired teen gave a grin. "Oh, so Tenten's my opponent? You may be good at real martial arts but this game is my territory."

"We'll see about that."

"You can do it Tenten, I believe in you!" Lee cheered on as the two of them started their match.

The martial arts expert was finding it quite difficult to keep up with Kiba – this game definitely was his territory. "How are you so good?"

"That is because he spends all of his free time here." Shino answered, causing Kiba so violently whip his head around to yell at his bug-loving friend. The rest gave good-natured laughs and Tenten took this opportunity to strike as her opponent wasn't paying attention.

Once Kiba heard the 8-bit loser music from his game machine, he turned his attention to where it should have been the entire time. "Ah! You cheater! You play dirty!"

Tenten laughed. "One must always pay attention on the battle field."

"That one doesn't count! Remat- huh? What're you doing!?" Kiba cried as Sai gently pushed him out of his seat.

"You said earlier that the loser moves their feet while everyone else tries to defeat the champion. I'd like to try now, it looks like fun." Kiba grumbled about how unjust he was being treated as Sai and Tenten started up another match. Hinata tore her eyes away to look at the cutest white bunny sitting inside of the crane game.

She tugged lightly on her boyfriend's jacket to get his attention, and when she did, she pointed to the game she had been eying for a while. "I want to try that one. There's a cute bunny in there and I'd love to have it." A goofy smile spread across his whiskered face and he held Hinata's hand, lacing his fingers between hers. "Don't worry, I'll win it for ya!" He jabbed a thumb in his chest with pride and in that moment, Hinata knew that she'd never be able to talk him out of it.

Naruto was spending quite a lot money, and Hinata was steadily growing more and more concerned. "Naruto-kun, you really don't have to keep doing this." She reassured him. "I don't really need it, so…"

The blond shook his head, placing another coin in the machine. "No, I said I'd win it for you so I have to!" The game started back up again, and Naruto mover the crane right over the bunny once more before pressing the red button so the crane could grab it. It tugged on the bunny's ear, and lifted it up from the pile of stuffed animals briefly before dropping the bunny in a different spot.

Naruto cried out in exasperation before putting yet another coin in the machine as Hinata gave a long sigh. "What's he worked up over now?" Hinata turned to see Sasuke, Neji and Sakura walking over to them, genuinely curious about what was going on.

"He's trying to win a stuffed animal for me, but it's not working. I keep telling him that he doesn't have to, but he just won't listen." Hinata explained. She watched Sakura walked up closer to the machine and hip bumped Naruto out of the way. She cracked her knuckles. "Now let me show you how a pro does it." She said as she pushed a coin of her own into the coin slot. "Now which one was it that you wanted?"

Hinata pointed to the white bunny and Sakura carefully maneuvered the crane over the stuffed animal. She pressed the red button to lower the crane and it snatched the bunny by its head and carried it to the drop off section. The pink haired teen crouched down to retrieve her prize and handed it to her dark haired friend, who stared at her in awe. "Oh wow, Sakura-chan! That was so amazing!"

"Nah, it was nothing." She waved her off, but was taken by surprise when Hinata grabbed hold of both of her hands. "Oh, but it was everything! You're so cool! Thank you so much!"

A light blush colored Sakura's cheeks and she smiled sheepishly as Hinata went on about how amazing she was. Naruto could feel his eye twitch and Neji and Sasuke shared similar smirks. "I guess Sakura's more of a boyfriend than you are." Sasuke teased, and Neji gave a small chuckle.

The blond scoffed. "A-as if!"

(^o^)

"Are you done yet? I'm tired of holding your stuff." Choji mumbled as Ino moved around on the dance machine. "Why don't you ask Sai to do it?"

Ino didn't miss a beat, and was focused on getting the highest score she possibly could. "He's busy over there being king of martial arts or whatever. Naturally, I have to be queen of something, so why not the queen of dance? Besides, it's just my coat and purse. You can handle it."

"Oh, I see Ino-pig doesn't pass up the opportunity to shake her ass." Sakura teased as Hinata and the rest followed.

The blonde was silent for a moment, focusing on the game. "Fight me, Forehead." She sneered. When the song was over, Ino was a little disappointed that she didn't top the highest score, but she placed top ten, and that was still an accomplishment.

"Wow, Ino you're really great at this game." Hinata said. Ino flipped her hair and gave a haughty laugh. "Well, of course."

Sakura gave her a jaded look. "You sure are humble, aren't you?" She said sarcastically.

"Hey Forehead. Let's have a dance competition!" Sakura rolled her eyes and Ino was positive she was going to deny her. She opened her mouth to speak but her blonde friend cut her off. "I mean, unless you're too afraid I'll kick your butt…"

The pink haired teen grimaced before taking her place at the machine next to her best friend. It sure was so easy for the two of them to get under each other's skin, wasn't it? The same thing happened with Naruto and Sasuke not too long ago while playing a driving game. Naruto actually won that game and wouldn't let Sasuke hear the end of it for a solid hour.

Hinata was watching the girls try to best each other in competition when she felt an arm wrap around her waist. She looked up at Naruto who had his eyes on Sakura and Ino's dance competition. "You wanna try dancing like that too?" She shook her head violently as a small blush lingered on her cheeks. Naruto laughed. "I'm kidding. Hey, there's a photo booth over there. Wanna take a few pictures together?"

The only time she had ever taken pictures in a photo booth was with Kiba and Shino, and that was way back in the 6th grade, right before they entered middle school. Hinata gave him a nod and they entered the booth not too far from the dance machines. It was quite spacious, bigger than she remembered it.

Her boyfriend pressed the button to start it, and wore the goofiest grin on his face, causing Hinata to laugh. "These pictures are gonna come out so great. You're not giving a fake smile." Hinata covered her face. "But then I'll look weird!"

He chuckled and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Nonsense. You always look so pretty. C'mon, you have to pose for the camera." The couple took some of the silliest photos ever; they made blowfish faces, stuck out their tongues, and stretched their mouths open. There were a few cute ones in there too, like when Hinata placed a kiss without warning on Naruto's cheek, or when he returned the favor shortly after by placing a kiss on her forehead.

The two of them took one last picture with their lips locked together, and as soon as the picture had been taken, Kiba shot his head between the curtains. "And just what're you two up to? Hmm?" He asked playfully.

Hinata gasped and Naruto scowled. "Can we have a moment, please!?" He scowled. Just then, Ino poked her head in from the other opening. "Oh! You guys are taking pictures? I wanna join!" Then she proceeded to seat herself next to Hinata and threw up peace signs. "Naruto, hit the button! I'm ready!"

He was about to tell her to get out when Kiba sat himself next to him and Choji took his original place with his head in between the curtains. "Oh! Are we doing group pictures?" He quickly poked his head out to call everyone over, causing Naruto to groan in annoyance. One by one, all 13 of them squished into the photo booth that Hinata thought wasn't so spacious anymore. Sai hit the start button for the camera to start, and the group took a bunch of very… lively photos.

"Hey look," Sakura said, "We can add stickers on them. I'm totally putting this pig nose on Ino!" She grinned, dragging the pig nose on the screen to the blonde's face. She gasped in horror. "Where's the forehead enlarger button on this machine!?"

Shinamaru gave a jaded look. "Why would the machine have that?"

"You can just add sparkles to her forehead if you want it to stand out." Tenten said nonchalantly and Sakura cried out in terror as Ino wasted no time dragging sparkles all around her exposed forehead. "Why would you tell her that!?"

Tenten shrugged. "Just felt right."

"Ah, look! They have whiskers! Naruto-kun and I look the same now!" Hinata chirped.

The blond chuckled. "You pull those off better than I do."

"Oh wow," Lee said in awe, "Sasuke-san looks unexpectedly good in cat ears." The Uchiha's eye twitched. "Take it off right – what do you mean _unexpectedly_?" He actually sounded offended, which caused the rest of the group to laugh as Lee apologized. "I will also put cat ears on myself to make it fair."

"Or you could take them off." Sasuke muttered.

They spent what felt like forever in there, just goofing off. Tenten stuck a pair of very fuzzy eyebrows on Neji's face (which Lee thought looked very youthful) and he retaliated by placing an even larger pair of fuzzy eyebrows on her face.

Kiba placed a pair of blue sparkling eyes with a rosy blush underneath them on Shino's face, but the bug-lover didn't mind at all. He claimed that he looked quite pretty with them on. When they were all somewhat satisfied with their strange pictures, Sai hit the print button and everyone rushed out to retrieve the photos.

Deciding that they were done with the arcade for the day, they all took a walk through one of the nearby parks. Hinata didn't think they'd spend such a long time in the arcade but the sun was starting to go down. Then, an idea struck her. "Hey everyone. Let's watch the sunset together."

They walked to the shallow river that cut right through the middle of the park – the same one Ino remembered playing in with Shikamaru and Choji in the summer and the same one Hinata remembered sitting by while she, Kiba and Shino had picnics in spring. Neji stared at it when he, Tenten and Lee all rode their bikes during autumn. Naruto remembered initiating snowball fights from the other side with Sai, Sakura and Sasuke during different stages of his life in the winter.

To think that they wouldn't be able to do many of those things anymore after graduation. They were going to be adults now – they had new responsibilities to take care of and playing around like children wasn't one of them. Still, that didn't stop their hearts from yearning for those days to become their reality again.

The orange light of the sun and the purplish color of the night sky began to meld together. Another day was about to be over, and the reality of just how little time they had together hit them hard. They uttered not a single word to each other as they watched the sun slowly descend into the darkness with the hope of being together again still lingering on their lips.

* * *

"Is everyone here?" Kakashi asked, never raising his eyes from his clipboard. One student raised their hand. "Um, no Sensei. Actually, Haruno-san, Uchiha-san and Uzumaki-san haven't arrived as yet."

He sighed, slapping his hand on his forehead. Leave it to those three to come late on the day of graduation. He reminded everyone countless times that they should have gotten into the classroom at least five minutes early to assure that they looked appropriate and that he would be able to assure Principal Tsunade that she'd have nothing to worry about. As if on cue, the three in question burst through the front door to the classroom, huffing and puffing violently.

"I… I'm sorry!" Naruto managed to say. "It's my fault! I woke up late and Sasuke and Sakura waited for me." Although Kakashi wanted to be mad, it would be the last time he'd ever have to deal with those troublemakers, so he let them slide. "Hurry up and get ready. You all look sloppy."

Sakura frowned. "Sloppy?"

"Your hair is sticking up all over the place, Forehead." Ino said. The pink haired teen gasped. "Oh no! It took me forever to get my hair just right!"

The blonde let out a good-natured laugh. "I've got a comb in my bag. Sit at my desk and I'll fix it for you." Sakura sighed in relief, thanking her best friend for her reliability.

Naruto wished Hinata a good morning and she stood from her desk to button up Naruto's uniform jacket. "You should've fixed this before you left the house." While she was lightly scolding him, she gave him one of her warmest smiles, the ones that always made him melt. He smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well yeah but I was running a bit late…"

"You're such a kid Naruto, having your uniform all sloppy in graduation day." Kiba teased him.

Hinata, who was still buttoning Naruto's jacket, gave a soft laugh. "Kiba-kun, yours isn't buttoned up either." The shaggy haired teen pressed his index finger to his lips and attempted to shush her, but was met with Kakashi's "no nonsense" gaze. Kiba groaned.

"But Sensei, I look stupid with all the buttons buttoned up." Even though he was wearing a mask, you'd have to be stupid not to realize that Kakashi was frowning at this point. Kiba sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fixing it."

Naruto chuckled at his friend's predicament before turning to Hinata. "So, today's the big day. Are you nervous?"

She was nervous, but only just a little bit. Excitement was a better word to describe what she was feeling. She hardly got any sleep the night before just at the thought of receiving her diploma for all of her hard work. "I've got a few butterflies in my stomach, but it's not so bad." She admitted. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "Kind of. I mean –"

"Alright everyone, we're leaving now." Kakashi called out. "We're already behind schedule; let's go."

Class 3-2 piled out of their classroom, and Naruto promised Hinata that he'd talk to her once the ceremony was over.

**-x-**

Singing.

That's what most of the graduation ceremony was comprised of; singing. After the graduating seniors walked to their seats, all they've been doing was singing. The national anthem and the city song had already been completed, and parents were turning their programs around to follow the lyrics of the school song.

Hinata had always loved this song, it was so different from the rest. Usually, school songs were about upholding the prestige of the school or something like that. This song however was about the individual, and the friends said individual came across.

And as she sang, it felt as if a wave of emotions came along and knocked the wind right out of her.

_Your smiling faces, your angry faces, everything keeps me walking on._

It was at that point in the song that she had stopped singing. The feelings of excitement and apprehension were long gone now, as the feeling of saudade swelled in her heart. All of her memories with her friends came back to her one by one, and although they were happy memories, all she could think about was how she would miss doing those things.

The conversations she and Ino shared over lunch no longer made her laugh. Spending an entire day with Kiba and Shino didn't bring a smile to her face anymore. The memories of the quality time she and Neji spent at home together left a pang in her heart.

And Naruto…

Oh Naruto.

Every memory of the way he spoke to her with his low voice, the way he held her in his arms when she really needed it, but never asked, even the passion he put into their kisses were breaking her heart. She'd be going without all of that for so long. She'd be going without him for so long.

Hinata felt as if she were about to cry when someone took hold of her left hand. Her glassy eyes looked over to see Neji looking straight forward, still singing their school song. His grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly, and she couldn't help but to smile at his kindness. He had said back in July that he wouldn't always be around to save her, and that statement would be true soon.

Right now, she could care less. He was attempting to save her one final time, and it worked. Hinata found her voice again and was able to complete their school song.

When the songs were over and diplomas were distributed, Principal Tsunade gave one final speech before it was time to head back to their classrooms. Hinata clutched onto the cylinder case that held her diploma. She was finally a high school graduate. The words seemed so foreign to her and yet, she felt like they belonged.

"That was a wonderful ceremony, wasn't it? It's not every day that I get to be the homeroom teacher of a graduating class." Kakashi spoke, looking over the rows of students from the podium. "I'd like to say that while you all were pretty loud and rambunctious, you all showed promise and determination; not just in your studies but in your day to day lives. I'm glad to have been your homeroom teacher this year, and I'm proud that I've had the chance to call you all my students."

Their homeroom teacher placed his arms behind his back. "Well, class is dismissed. For good."

"Sensei." Neji called out, surprising Kakashi just a little bit. "All of us from class 3-2 would like to present you with a gift."

"We all chipped in to get it for you, so you better like it!" Naruto cried out, and most of the class laughed. Neji presented Kakashi with a small, square box.

He opened it, and his eyes widened upon seeing the present. "A watch?" It didn't look like they cleaned their wallets dry trying to pay for it, but it wasn't cheap looking either. The watch was silver, and pretty stylish looking if he said so himself.

"Now you won't be late for anything anymore." Ino grinned. "I think we're doing your future students a favor."

Sakura scoffed. "Oh please. Knowing Kakashi-sensei, he'll come up with some excuse about how he forgot to set the right time or something."

Kakashi gave a light chuckle before returning his attention to his new watch. "Thank you. I'll treasure this always." The students were finally able to walk out of their classrooms and roam around the building freely. Some friends huddled around each other and began crying their eyes out over the fact that they wouldn't see each other anymore while others took pictures with their family and friends.

Ino was practically dragging her father around by his ponytail, having him take a picture of her and all of her friends. "Dad, make sure it's perfect! I wanna be able to look at these 20 years from now and still love them!" She cried before draping her arms around Hinata and Sakura.

"Okay, okay my little flower petal." Inoichi laughed, readying his camera. "Is everyone ready? Say cheese!" The girls did just as Ino's father said, and as soon as the flash went off, Ino raced over to him to see if the picture came out alright. "Ah! It's perfect! Girls look!" Sakura and Hinata giggled. Ino could be such a child sometimes.

When the two of them okayed the picture, Ino ran off to look for Shikamaru and Choji, her father trailing right behind her. Hinata thought she was the definition of "Daddy's little girl."

"Yo, Sakura, Hinata!" Karin called out. The two of them were surprised to see a very pretty man with her. If Hinata remembered correctly, Karin did say that she had a caretaker instead of parents, so it was normal that this man looked absolutely nothing like her. "This is my caretaker, Orochimaru. He really wanted to meet you guys."

Hinata and Sakura bowed. "It's very nice to meet you." They said in unison.

"Ah, it's so wonderful to meet some of Karin's friends. She talks about you two so much. Thank you for taking care of her."

Sakura didn't have the heart to tell him that they weren't friends, even if Karin was giving her one of the most smug grins in the history of smug looking grins. "Yeah, it's no problem at all." She laughed just a bit awkwardly. She stopped however when Karin's caretaker pulled out a digital camera. "How about a picture, huh girls?"

The three of them obliged, and Orochimaru shot a few pictures of them. As Sakura and Karin went to check them out, Hinata could see her father out of the corner of her eye. He was standing next to a woman with red hair and she knew exactly who that was. Hinata quickly excused herself before rushing over to her father.

"Oh, Hina–"

"Hinata-chan!" Kushina cried, completely cutting Hiashi off as she wrapped her arms around the petite girl. "Congratulations on graduating! I'm so proud of you!" Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as Kushina comically pressed her lips to Hinata's forehead.

Hiashi folded his arms and directed his stone cold glare to Minato. "Does she usually do this?"

"Yes." The blond answered, silently praying that his wife would let Hinata go. He breathed a sigh of relief when she let go only to tense back up again when he heard his son's booming voice call out to Hiashi's daughter. Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata and Hiashi cleared his throat.

"Boy…" He growled and Naruto let go of Hinata, slowly backing away. "S-sorry sir." The Hyuga guessed that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. He suddenly felt a light slap on his shoulder.

"Oh come on!" Kushina laughed. "My Naruto's a good kid! You've got nothing to worry about! C'mon you two, how about a picture?" The two of them nodded, standing next to each other with bright smiles on their faces as Kushina snapped a few pictures of them. "Ah, these are so cute! I'll send these to you too if you want, Hyuga-san."

"Uh, hey mom. Hinata and I are gonna go say goodbye to club members and stuff." Naruto said. Hiashi was a tad bit skeptical, for good reason, but his mother seemed to understand. "I got it kiddo! Just remember to come back home before dinner. I'll make your favorite ramen tonight!"

"That goes for you as well, Hinata. " Hiashi spoke before eying Naruto. Minato quickly cut in. "I think you've frightened my son enough for one day." Surprisingly, Hiashi smirked. Naruto noticed that he looked a lot like Neji when he did that and silently thanked God that Hinata was nothing like her father.

**-x-**

"Finally, we made it." Naruto grinned. As soon as they left their parents, Naruto told Hinata that they were going to hang out on the roof together. She had only been up there a few times to have lunch with Shikamaru and Choji when the weather was warm. The thought of being alone up there with Naruto made her heart quicken.

The view from the roof was absolutely beautiful. Hinata could see houses up on hills and a few tall buildings in the far distance. Even though it was pretty cold, the sun was up high, shining on them. The contrast between warm and cold felt oddly pleasing.

"So, what were you going to tell me this morning?" She asked, staring straight ahead.

He shoved his hands in his pocket. "Oh yeah. About why I was sort of nervous this morning." He could see his girlfriend tense up, and she never took her eyes off of the view in front of them which kind of bothered him. "I was excited about being able to graduate with everyone. You all really helped me out, I couldn't have done it without you guys. You wanna know why I was late this morning?"

"Wasn't it because you overslept this morning?"

Naruto shook his head. "Well, yeah. But I couldn't sleep last night." Hinata didn't say anything, but he knew her silence meant that she wanted him to continue. "I stayed up all night thinking about graduation and about you… about us. I know I said we'd do this till the last second but… who knew three months could go by so quickly?

"But it was fun, wasn't it?" At this, Hinata quickly turned to face him. Her opalescent eyes widened at the familiar grin plastered on his face. Everything was terrible, she'd hardly see or speak to him anymore, and yet he was grinning as if everything was okay. "Don't you think so, Hinata?"

Her eyes focused on the ground, not wanting to meet his gaze and he reached out to hold her hand. "Remember our class trip in May? It was so much fun getting to take a ton of pictures with you. I still carry it actually." He laughed. "And then, when we hung out at Ino's summer home. Watching fireworks with you was amazing!"

His happiness was infectious. Hinata couldn't stop the smile tugging at the corners of her lips as he animatedly spoke about their time together. "I still have that note you gave me during cram school when you asked if I wanted to go for ice cream." She giggled.

"What? Throw that out, my drawings are terrible!" He whined.

They stood hand in hand, recalling all the memories they shared together. Naruto recalled how absolutely beautiful he thought she looked on Tanabata and how they won Kurama during the summer festival. Hinata remembered how cool she thought he looked at his basketball game and fun it was baking that chocolate cake together.

"Oi Hinata. Don't be such a crybaby about it." Naruto chuckled as he wiped away some of the tears that had rolled down her cheeks.

She pouted. "But you're crying too." He quickly removed his hands from her face to wipe his own tears away with the sleeve of his uniform jacket. "Wh-what are you talking about? I'm just sweating from my eyes, that's all!"

She laughed and wiped away the tears from the corner of her eye. "You never fail to make me happy, Naruto-kun. I was… feeling sad during graduation about leaving everyone behind. So sad that thinking about all the good times we shared made me want to cry. But you always find some way to make me smile. Thank you so much for that."

All of a sudden, she felt her boyfriend pull her into a warm embrace. The couple stayed like that for a while, and it wasn't until Hinata heard Naruto sniffling that she broke away from him. "Naruto-kun, wipe your nose." She said, attempting to search for her handkerchief in the pockets of her school skirt.

Naruto wouldn't let her go so easily. He grabbed her by her waist, trying to nuzzle her neck as she struggled to get away. "Hinata! Stay with me!" He whined, and Hinata shrieked. "Snot! You're going to get snot on me!" His gross sobbing turned into playful laughter.

"Ah! The snot monster's gonna get you!"

"Stop it! That's gross!" She cried as she tried to squirm out of his grasp. Even though she gave terrified shrieks, a large smile was prevalent on her face. Once she was able to grab her handkerchief from her pocket, she slapped it on his nose. "Here, blow."

He did as he was told and gave Hinata a sheepish smile. "Hehe, I get carried away sometimes." She cast him a look that said "I know" and he chuckled before placing his arms around her waist once more. "Even though I'll miss you, it'll be okay. You'll always come back to me, right?"

Hinata placed a chaste kiss on Naruto's lips. "Always."

* * *

I'm so proud of myself for finishing a story. I feel complete now.

Thanks for sticking with me through this whole ride. I'm glad people actually liked this story. High school fics aren't very well received and are very hackneyed, but I just had to do it. Now, I'm probably going to get a lot of questions about an epilogue. I _might_ do one. I dunno.

I don't want to write an epilogue because I kind of planned on making a sequel to this. **It's not confirmed though, so don't kill me if it doesn't happen.** The ideas for a sequel have been floating around in my head since last month but I haven't written anything down. I'd first have to plan out everything from beginning to end (that way, the chances of me abandoning it are lowered).

If I do plan it out, I won't post anything until I've written the story completely. I'm doing this because I won't have a lot of time to be writing since I go back to school in late August and don't want to update haphazardly. If the story is complete, you'd be getting a scheduled update, and that's neat, right?

Also, if I write it without posting each chapter and decide I don't want to write it anymore, I can just post everything I've written so far and tell you I'm not going to finish it and disappoint you all then instead of having you get your hopes up with some ultra-dramatic cliffhanger chapter I pulled out of my ass and just leave you hanging years down the road.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm trash. Don't expect stuff from me. I will disappoint you. After I finish up the collaboration with Kae, I'll just be lurking around FF and Tumblr, reading cute/smutty stories. Feel free to say hello!

Again, thanks for your continued support! It means a lot to me, honestly! See you around!


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